William Nordhaus, Paul Romer awarded 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics

American economists William Nordhaus and Paul Romer were jointly awarded 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences for integrating climate change and technological innovation into macroeconomic analysis.  Their findings have significantly broadened scope of economic analysis by constructing models that explain how market economy interacts with nature and knowledge. Their studies has helped to address some of current time’s most basic and pressing questions about creating long-term sustained and sustainable growth.
William Nordhaus: He is professor at Yale University. He was first person to create economic model that describes global interplay between economy and the climate in the 1990s. This model had showed that the most efficient remedy for problems caused by greenhouse gases is a global scheme of universally imposed carbon taxes.
Paul Romer: He is professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has showed that how economic forces govern willingness of firms to produce new ideas and innovations. This had laid foundations for new model for development, known as endogenous growth theory.

Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is officially called Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was not part of original group of awards (Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine) set out in dynamite tycoon Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will. It was instituted in 1968 by Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank).
It is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences according to the same principles as for Nobel Prizes. The five Nobel Prizes are based on fund set up from wealth bequeathed by Alfred Nobel, whereas Economic Prize is based on donation received by Nobel Foundation in 1968 from Sveriges Riksbank.
Although not a Nobel Prize, this award is recognised as most prestigious award in the subject. It has been awarded 50 times since 1969. Indian economist Amartya Sen is only Indian so far to win this prize in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics. Elinor Ostrom is only woman to win this award so far in 2009, she had shared it with fellow-American Paul Krugman.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2018