Two American economists win Nobel Prize for economic stabilization models

American economists Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday, October 12, UPI, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, and CNN reported. The award was announced in Stockholm by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The two researchers won the prize for developing economic models that assist governments and central banks in responding to economic fluctuations, according to UPI, Deutsche Welle, and Euronews. [1][2][4][6][7]

The jury at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated that the work of the two laureates provided a stable theoretical foundation for models used by central banks and governments to handle shocks such as energy crises, Euronews reported. UPI and Deutsche Welle noted that Hall is affiliated with Stanford University in California, while Woodford is a professor at Columbia University in Massachusetts. [1][2][4]

UPI reported that Hall and Woodford will share a award of $1.2 million, which is officially named the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. As FTMQ News reported earlier, the award includes a cash prize of 12 million Swedish kronor for research focused on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization. [1][15]

The economics prize is not one of the original five awards specified in the 1896 will of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, Euronews reported. The original prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace were first awarded in 1901, while Sweden's central bank created the economics prize in 1968. [1][4][13]