Is the most prestigious award in economics actually a true Nobel Prize?
In short: While it shares the Nobel name, ceremony, and prestige, the economics award was established by Sweden's central bank in 1968, long after Alfred Nobel's death. Critics, including Nobel's own family, argue it is a clever branding exercise that lacks the original founder's intent to reward contributions to human well-being.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences was created to mark the 300th anniversary of Sweden's central bank. Unlike the original five prizes established in Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, this award is funded by the bank rather than Nobel's estate. Despite this distinction, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects winners using a process nearly identical to the original Nobel Prizes, and laureates are honored at the same December 10 ceremony in Stockholm.
The award has faced significant controversy since its inception. Peter Nobel, a great-grandnephew of the founder, has publicly criticized the association, suggesting his ancestor would have despised a prize focused on economic profit. Even some laureates have been skeptical; in 1974, Friedrich Hayek argued that the prize grants economists an unwarranted level of authority over the public, which he believed could be dangerous compared to the more self-correcting nature of the natural sciences.
The committee's choices have frequently sparked international debate. The 1976 award to Milton Friedman drew protests due to his ties to the Chilean military dictatorship, while the 2005 prize to Robert Aumann faced backlash over his political views on Israeli settlements. In 2013, the committee simultaneously honored Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller, despite their fundamentally opposing views on market efficiency. These tensions have led to internal reforms, including a 1995 redefinition of the prize's scope to include broader social sciences like psychology and political science, aiming to diversify the intellectual reach of the committee's selections.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
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