Robert Hall and Michael Woodford win 2026 Nobel economics prize

Stockholm – The 2026 Nobel economics prize has been awarded to Americans Robert Hall and Michael Woodford for their groundbreaking work on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the prestigious award, officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, on Monday.

The prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), is the final prize to be distributed this year. Established in 1969 by Sweden's central bank, the economics prize is not one of the original five awards established in 1895 by industrialist Alfred Nobel. In the past, most laureates have hailed from the United States, with only three women receiving the honor, most recently Claudia Goldin in 2023 for her research on gender's impact on pay and employment in the U.S. Analysis by the Institute for Scientific Information had identified researchers focused on monetary policy, information technology economics, and evolutionary economic theory as potential recipients.

Last year's winners, Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt, were recognized for their work on "creative destruction" and how innovative technology and production methods can foster growth and enhance living standards. The Nobel prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace were announced earlier in the week.