Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish economist and sociologist, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek in 1974. He is best known for his study of race relations and his work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations. He and his wife, Alva Myrdal, were staunch believers in social engineering and played an important role in the establishment of the Folkhemmet and the welfare state in Sweden. His wife became the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. Born into a family of comfortable means in Sweden, Gunnar Myrdal grew up to be an ambitious young man. He earned a law degree from Stockholm University and began practicing law while also continuing his studies. He eventually completed his doctorate in economics with a thesis on the role of expectations in price formation. He went on to have a successful academic career and founded the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm. He travelled widely across Europe and the United States. He connected political science, social science, and economics and made major contributions to the philosophy of knowledge. He is the grandfather of economist Stefan Fölster.