French Economist Jean Tirole Wins Nobel Prize for Taming Monopolies

French economist Jean Tirole won the Nobel prize for economics Monday for research on market power and regulation that has helped policy-makers understand how to deal with industries dominated by a few. Calling Tirole 'one of the most influential economists of our time,' the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said he's made contributions in a range of research areas. It said he brought new life into the research on market failures and his work has strong bearing on how governments deal with mergers or cartels and how they should regulate monopolies. In a 2012 interview, Tirole told French newspaper Les Echos that the 2008 financial crisis stemmed primarily from regulatory failure. The Noble prize award ceremony will be held on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.