More Than a Medal
Each October, the global academic community turns its attention to Stockholm for the announcement of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. More than any other accolade, this prize represents the apex of achievement in its field. Since its inception in 1969, it has chronicled the evolution of modern economic thought, celebrating breakthroughs that have reshaped our understanding of everything from individual decision-making to the wealth of nations.
This webpage explores the dual legacy of the prize: as a mechanism for recognizing transformative research and as a powerful, controversial force that shapes the discipline itself. It is not merely a passive reflector of economic genius but an active participant in the discipline's internal and external power struggles.
Prize at a Glance (1969-2025)
57
Prizes Awarded
99
Total Laureates
3
Female Laureates
11M
SEK Prize (2025)
The Making of a "Nobel"
A Prize in Memory, Not by Bequest
Unlike the original Nobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, the Prize in Economic Sciences was created in 1968 by Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, to mark its 300th anniversary. Though funded separately, it was designed to mirror the original Nobels in procedure and prestige, with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selecting the laureates.
The "Pseudo-Nobel" Debate
From its inception, the prize faced controversy. Alfred Nobel's own family objected, with his great-grandnephew calling it a "PR coup by economists." The Nobel Foundation itself clarifies that "The prize in economic sciences is not a Nobel Prize." However, its integration into the Nobel ceremony has given it a functionally identical level of global prestige, an authority that was meticulously engineered rather than inherited.
A Pantheon of Economic Thought
Milton Friedman
1976 - The Monetarist Revolution
Friedman's prize was a watershed moment, symbolizing the ascendancy of the free-market Chicago School. He challenged the post-war Keynesian consensus, arguing that inflation is "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." His work, particularly "A Monetary History of the United States," controversially blamed the Great Depression on government failure, not capitalist failure. His theories provided the intellectual foundation for the "Volcker Shock" in the US and Thatcherism in the UK, policies that aggressively targeted inflation at the cost of deep recessions.
Daniel Kahneman
2002 - The Behavioral Turn
The prize to Kahneman, a psychologist, was revolutionary. He integrated psychological insights into economics, challenging the core assumption of human rationality. His work with Amos Tversky on Prospect Theory showed that people evaluate outcomes as gains and losses relative to a reference point and exhibit "loss aversion." This legitimized the field of behavioral economics and led to the policy concept of "nudging," famously implemented by the UK's Behavioural Insights Team to improve public services through subtle changes in "choice architecture."
Elinor Ostrom
2009 - Governing the Commons
Ostrom was the first woman to receive the award. A political scientist, she challenged the "Tragedy of the Commons" theory. Through global fieldwork, she proved that communities could successfully manage shared resources without privatization or top-down government control. Her work identified key "design principles" for sustainable, self-governing institutions. A prime example of her principles in action is Nepal's Community Forestry program, which devolved forest management to local user groups, leading to ecological restoration and improved livelihoods.
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt
2025 - The Frontier of Growth
This prize highlighted the modern consensus on the source of long-term prosperity: innovation-driven growth. Mokyr's historical work showed that sustained technological progress requires the right social and intellectual conditions. Aghion and Howitt formalized Joseph Schumpeter's concept of "creative destruction," modeling growth as an inherently disruptive process where new innovations render old technologies obsolete. Together, their work provides a powerful synthesis of history and theory, explaining growth as a dynamic interplay between knowledge, culture, and economic competition.
The "Nobel Illusion"? Controversy and Bias
Ideological Bias
A central criticism is that the prize systematically favors neoclassical, free-market economists while excluding those from critical traditions like the Marxian or Post-Keynesian schools. The exclusion of figures like Joan Robinson and the strong representation of members from the free-market-promoting Mont Pelerin Society fuel accusations that the prize is an instrument in an ideological project.
An Exclusive Club
The demographics reveal a stark concentration. Nearly half of all recipients have been affiliated with just four US universities (Chicago, MIT, Harvard, Princeton). Only three women have won the prize. This institutional and gender imbalance raises questions about the fairness and diversity of the selection process, which appears to be a self-reinforcing system where past winners nominate colleagues and former students from the same elite networks.
Complete List of Laureates (1969-2025)
| Year | Laureate(s) | Contribution |
|---|
The Dual Legacy
The history of the Prize in Economic Sciences is the history of modern economics itself—a story of brilliant insights, powerful paradigms, and fierce ideological contests. It has undeniably celebrated research that has transformed global policy. However, its legacy is complicated by its controversial creation, ideological leanings, and the creation of an exclusive, self-reinforcing hierarchy.
Whether the prize can adapt to address its inherent biases and broaden its intellectual and demographic horizons will be a crucial indicator of the direction of economic thought in the 21st century.