Nobel Prize in Economics won by Paul Romer and William Nordhaus

Paul Romer (L) and William Nordhaus
(R).
Reuters;
Reuters

• Economists Paul Romer and William Nordhaus have both
  been awarded 2018’s Nobel Prize in Economics.
• Both men were given the prize for their roles in
  changes to long term economic forecasting.
• Romer was awarded for his work on the integration of
  technology into forecasting, while Nordhaus received the prize
  for looking at climate change in economic modelling.

Economists Paul Romer and William Nordhaus have both been awarded
2018’s Sveriges
Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred
Nobel, often considered to be the most prestigious
prize in the field of economics.

Both men were given the prize for their roles in changes to
long term economic forecasting.

Romer, a former chief economist of the World Bank, received
the prize “for integrating technological innovations into
long-run macroeconomic analysis.”

Nordhaus, often considered the father of climate change
economics, won “for integrating climate change into long-run
macroeconomic analysis.”

Although the prize cannot technically be considered a Nobel Prize
as it was not established in the will of Alfred
Nobel, it is regarded to be equivalent to those prizes
(Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics and Medicine), and is
effectively a Nobel Prize for Economics.

The prize is given to an economist who has made a substantial
contribution toward the subject, with an award of more than $1
million.

The prize has previously gone to such major names as Milton
Friedman, Paul Krugman, and Friedrich von Hayek. Political
scientists whose work has influenced economics as a discipline
have also been honoured in the past.

Last year it was won by behavioural economist Richard Thaler,
who won for his work on nudge theory, the idea that small
“nudges” can influence our economic and social behaviour, and his
work around humans being irrational economic actors.