Sir Arthur Lewis, born in Castries, Saint Lucia, on January 23, 1915, was the economist who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 for his research on development. He began working as a clerk at age 14, became a professor at the University of Manchester at age 33, and served as the first president of the Caribbean Development Bank beginning in 1970. He died in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 15, 1991.
In August 1952, on a street in Bangkok, Thailand, Sir Arthur Lewis realized he could abandon the idea of a limited labor force. This insight solved two puzzles: the relative prices of steel and coffee, and the fact that British wages had remained nearly stable during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. The story begins much earlier, in Castries.
Sir Arthur Lewis, a boy from Castries who became a clerk at age 14
Sir Arthur Lewis was born on January 23, 1915, in Castries, Saint Lucia. His parents were schoolteachers who had arrived from Antigua about a dozen years earlier. At age seven, an illness kept him at home. His father tutored him and taught him in three months what school taught in two years. The boy skipped from fourth to sixth grade.
His father died that same year, leaving behind a widow and five sons. He would always remember his mother as the most disciplined and hardworking person he had ever known. At age 14, he left school and became an administrative clerk. The job taught him how to write, type, and file. In 1932, he won a scholarship from the government of St. Lucia to study at a British university.
From the London School of Economics to a professorship at Manchester
Sir Arthur Lewis dreamed of becoming an engineer. In the British colonies at the time, neither the government nor white-owned companies would hire a Black engineer. So he chose business and enrolled in 1933 at the London School of Economics in London. He admits that at the time, he didn’t know what economics was. He graduated in 1937 with first-class honors.
In 1938, he became the first Black scholar at the London School of Economics. Friedrich Hayek, who was then acting head of the economics department, asked him to teach the interwar period. Sir Arthur Lewis replied that he did not know what had happened. Friedrich Hayek replied that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it. That course would result in a book, published in 1949. In January 1948, Sir Arthur Lewis was appointed professor of political economy at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. He was 33 years old.
The Dual Economy: The Concept of Bangkok Explained Simply
Its model is based on two sectors. The first is traditional subsistence agriculture, which employs the majority of the population. The second is a modern, market-oriented sector that drives growth. This modern sector draws on an almost unlimited labor force from rural areas. Wages remain close to rural levels. Profits are turned into savings, which finance factories and machinery.
He published this idea in 1954 in the journal *The Manchester School*, under the title “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor.” The article drew both praise and outrage. Over the next twenty-five years, other researchers devoted five books and numerous articles to it.
From the University of the West Indies to the Caribbean Development Bank
In 1957, Sir Arthur Lewis became economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Ghana. Beginning in 1959, he headed the University College of the West Indies—the first Caribbean to hold that position—and later became vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies. In 1963, he joined Princeton University in the United States, where he taught until 1983.
He temporarily left Princeton to join the Caribbean Development Bank, which was established on January 26, 1970, and is headquartered in Barbados. He became its first president. Under his leadership, the bank focused on education and training. Sir Arthur Lewis also encouraged Caribbean countries to cooperate and to make joint use of the institution’s resources.
Sir Arthur Lewis's 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics
In 1979, Sir Arthur Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, which he shared with Theodore W. Schultz of the University of Chicago. The prize recognized his pioneering research on economic development. On December 8, 1979, at the Nobel Lecture, Sir Arthur Lewis presented “The Slowing Down of the Engine of Growth.” He explored a scenario in which wealthy economies slow down. According to his analysis, developing countries could maintain a growth rate of about six percent by increasing trade among themselves. He presented this calculation as a possibility, not as a prediction.
Sir Arthur Lewis's Legacy to Saint Lucia
He is buried in Saint Lucia, on the campus of Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in Morne Fortune, alongside Derek Walcott, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The college opened on June 1, 1986, and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2026, featuring his likeness at the center of its anniversary logo. In March 2023, the London School of Economics renamed its economics building the Sir Arthur Lewis Building. Every January 23, his birthday, Saint Lucia celebrates Nobel Laureate Day.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced on Monday, October 12, in Stockholm. One question remains—the same one Sir Arthur Lewis posed in his 1979 lecture. Can developing countries continue to grow when wealthy economies are slowing down? For the latest news from the island, read our article on Jounen Kwéyòl 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sir Arthur Lewis
Sir Arthur Lewis was an economist born in Castries, Saint Lucia, on January 23, 1915, and died in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 15, 1991. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 and served as the first president of the Caribbean Development Bank beginning in 1970.
Sir Arthur Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 for his pioneering research on economic development. He shared the prize with Theodore W. Schultz of the University of Chicago.
This model, published in 1954, contrasts subsistence agriculture with a modern sector. This modern sector draws on a nearly unlimited labor force at wages close to rural levels and converts its profits into savings for investment.
