Atkinson’s contributions to economics were immense:
Piketty notes:
“Atkinson’s most
important and profound work has to do with the historical and empirical
analysis of inequality, carried out within a theoretical frame that he deploys
with impeccable mastery and utilizes with caution and moderation. With his
distinctive approach, at once historical, empirical, and theoretical; with his
extreme rigor and his unquestioned probity; with his ethical reconciliation of
his roles as researcher in the social sciences and citizen of, respectively,
the United Kingdom, Europe, and the world, Atkinson has himself for decades
been a model for generations of students and young researchers.
Together with Simon
Kuznets, Atkinson single-handedly originated a new discipline within the social
sciences and political economy: the study of historical trends in the
distribution of income and wealth.”