What is Gary Becker?
{{Infobox person | name = Gary Becker | image = GaryBecker-May24-2008.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Gary Becker speaking in Chicago, May 24, 2008 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|12|2|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2014|05|03|1930|12|2}} | death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S. | alma_mater = [[Princeton University]]<br>[[University of Chicago]] | awards = 1967 [[John Bates Clark Medal]]<br>1992 [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]]<br>1997 [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]<br>2004 [[John von Neumann Award]]<br>2007 [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] }} {{nobelprize|Economics}}'''Gary Stanley Becker''' (December 2, 1930 ~ May 3, 2014) was an [[Americans|American]] [[economist]]. He was a professor of [[economics]] and [[sociology]] at the [[University of Chicago]] and a professor at the [[University of Chicago Booth School of Business|Booth School of Business]]. He won the [[Nobel Prize in Economics]] in 1992 and received the United States [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-29-voa68.cfm |title=President Bush Announces 2007 Medal of Freedom Recipients |access-date=2014-05-05 |archive-date=2007-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101072103/http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-29-voa68.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Becker was one of the first economists to study topics that were usually researched in [[sociology]]. He studied family organization in new and interesting ways. He studied [[racial discrimination]], [[crime]], and [[rational addiction]]. He said that many different types of human behavior that seem self-destructive or irrational can be seen as rational and [[utility]]-maximizing. He also studied [[altruism]] in human behavior. He showed that sometimes altruism was really to help oneself. He was a strong supporter of studying [[human capital]]. According to [