ROBERT MUNDELL, winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics and “Father of the Euro,” died of illness at his home in Italy on Sunday at the age of 88.

Li Daxi, chairman of the American International Chinese Technology Business Association who is very familiar with the Mundell family, confirmed the news.

Mundell’s son Bill told Lee: “My father passed away a few hours ago. May he rest in peace. It is unbelievable that this is Easter. What’s even more incredible is that I dreamed last night that he was regained and conscious. I witnessed his resurrection with my own eyes.”

Mundell was born in Ontario, Canada, in October 1932,

Mundell laid the intellectual groundwork for the creation of the European Union and its common currency, the euro, and became a hero of political conservatives as the champion of “supply side” tax cuts and higher interest rates adopted during the Reagan administration.

His pioneering research on common currencies, and the implications of the flow of capital across national borders and flexible foreign-exchange rates were recognized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize.

His discoveries have placed him among the perennial favorites for a Nobel for decades.

During the 1970s, most economists were stumped by stagflation — a combination of inflation, a troubled dollar, persistent unemployment and a worsening balance of payments. Mundell suggested an unorthodox solution: raise interest rates to protect the dollar and cut taxes to spur the economy. (SD-Agencies)