Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service.

We're your weekly guide to the numbers in the news and in life.

And I'm Tim Harford.

On Monday, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was announced.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

has today decided to award the Sverius Rix-Bank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel to Angus Deaton for his

analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare.

Angus Deaton of Princeton University is a numbers man through and through with a particular focus

on how we spend our money.

That's a big topic.

It has an impact on government taxes, subsidies and welfare, on what happens during a recession,

and on who we think is poor. He's even tackled the age-old question of whether money can buy

happiness. Well we thought it would be a good idea to interview an expert

about Angus Deaton's ideas and we think we found just the person.

Angus Deaton himself. Professor Deaton, welcome to the programme.

Thank you very much.

How did it feel to get the early morning call from Sweden, about 6 in the morning I think?

Yeah, 6-10, I remember quite precisely.

I was looking at the clock and the phone rang.

Oh, you weren't lying there awake hoping for the call?

I was sitting by the telephone just waiting.

No, of course I was not.

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