The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics is announced to explore the deep logic of "managing the world for practical applications"

China News Service, October 12 (Zheng Yuntian) On the 12th, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decided to award the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics to Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University "in recognition of their contributions to the microeconomic foundation of macroeconomic stabilization."

Image source: Nobel Prize official social media screenshot

The Nobel Prize “Not the Nobel Prize”

Compared with the "veteran" Nobel Prizes established according to Nobel's will, such as the Physics Prize and the Literature Prize, the Economics Prize is the "youngest" and its "birth" was more than half a century later.

The award was established in 1968 as an economics award established by the Swedish National Bank in memory of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize. Although it is not the original award in Nobel's will, this award is equivalent to the Physics Prize and the Chemistry Prize in terms of selection rules and academic influence. It is also awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Although the age of the Nobel Prize in Economics is "the youngest", the age of the award winners is generally older, with an average age of about 67 years old. The American economist Hurwickz, who won the award in 2007, is the oldest recipient. He was 90 years old when he won the award. The youngest winner is the French-American economist Duflo, who won the award in 2019. He was 46 years old when he won the award.

Duflo is not only the youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, but also the second female winner. Since the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded, there have been only a handful of female winners. The first female winner was American economist Ostrom, who won the award in 2009.

Economics prizes awarded to “non-economists”?

From 1969 to 2025, the Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded more than 50 times, with more than 90 scholars winning the award. However, these laureates are not all scholars specializing in traditional economics.

"We broadly define it as anything that economists are interested in can be called economics, even if it is research in other disciplines." Peter Enlund, former secretary of the Nobel Economics Prize Jury, once said.

One of the winners in 1994, John Nash, who pioneered the concept of "Nash Equilibrium" and was the prototype of the movie "A Beautiful Mind", is better known as a mathematician. In 2015, Nash also won the Abel Prize, one of the highest awards in mathematics. One of the 2002 winners, Kahneman, was a psychologist, and the reason for the award was "for integrating insights from psychological research into the field of economics." The 2024 winners Ajemooglu, Johnson and Robinson relied on research on colonial history and social systems to reveal the deep logic behind the rise and fall of countries and global inequality.

From recognizing practical explorations in poverty reduction in 2019, to commending theoretical innovations in auctions in 2020; from focusing on the impact of institutions on economic prosperity in 2024, to commending scholars for explaining "innovation-driven economic growth" in 2025...these award-winning achievements all demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of economics responding to the concerns and realities of the times.

How to embody the "application of economics to the world"?

Peter Gardenforth, a member of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics jury, once said that the Nobel Prize in Economics is actually not mysterious. It can make economic analysis more "humane" and thus "help people make better economic decisions."

From guiding personal decision-making to providing theoretical support for solving national development problems, Nobel Prize winners in economics continue to contribute to addressing global challenges. Whether it is integrating climate change and technological innovation into the macroeconomic framework in the early years, improving global poverty governance through experimental methods, or analyzing the role of social systems and innovation mechanisms in long-term prosperity, the economics prize is forming its own unique pattern.

Talking about the rules of the Nobel Prize, Per Stromberg, a member of the Nobel Prize Committee in Economics, previously believed in an interview that the Nobel Prize is a discovery, not a popularity contest. It's about finding research contributions that truly have a significant impact on the world and make it a better place.

Analysts believe that this trend shows that the essential characteristics of economics as a study of "managing the world for practical application" are receiving unprecedented attention.

Looking back at the winners and their achievements in the past 10 years

2025

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt were awarded for explaining "innovation-driven economic growth".

2024

Daron Ajemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson were awarded the award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of research on how institutions form and influence economic prosperity.

2023

American economist Claudia Goldin received the award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of research on women's labor force.

2022

Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dibweg received the award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of banking and financial crisis research.

2021

David Card won the award for "empirical contributions to labor economics"; Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Inbens shared the other half of the award for "methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships."

2020

Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson received the award "for their improvements in auction theory and the invention of new auction formats."

2019

Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kramer share the award in recognition of their contributions to the field of poverty reduction research.

2018

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer jointly won the award for their respective integration of climate change and technological innovation into long-term macroeconomic research.

2017

Richard Thaler was awarded for his contributions to behavioral economics.

2016

Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström were awarded for their contributions to contract theory.