Americans Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford awarded the Nobel Prize in economics

Key Points:

• American economists Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing economic models that help governments and central banks stabilize economies and minimize the impact of external shocks.
• Their models focus on microeconomic decision-making by households and businesses, emphasizing their forward-looking behavior in savings and pricing, which aids in better economic forecasting and policy influence.
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences highlighted that their work provides a stable theoretical foundation now widely used by policymakers to manage economic downturns and shocks such as energy crises.
• Hall is a professor at Stanford University, and Woodford teaches at Columbia University; each will receive 6 million Swedish kronor (approximately $598,000) as prize money.
• The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, established in 1968 by Sweden’s central bank, has been awarded to 101 individuals so far, with only three female laureates and fewer than half of the prizes given to a single recipient.