The 1994 Nobel prize in economics was shared by John Harsanyi and the mathematicians John Nash and Reinhard Selten for their introduction of several different concepts of market equilibria, situations in which each player is in an optimum position relative to its competitors. These perspectives provide deeper insights into price structures than simple supply and demand, thereby guiding investment and capital expenditure decisions. Such disputes might center on dividing cities and natural resources at the close of a multi-nation war. The theoretical solution of the underlying mathematical problem, that of fair, envy-free division among many parties, might lead eventually to tools that heads of state could apply to deciding disputes like the division of territory in Bosnia. Mathematics at the Core Mathematics shows many faces as it works in these diverse settings.
Statistics measures the quality of information.
Optimization finds the best alternative. Probability quantifies and manages uncertainty. Control automates decision making. Modeling and computation build the mathematical abstraction of reality upon which these and many other powerful mathematical tools operate. Mathematics is indeed the foundation of modern decision making.