Hall, Woodford Win 2026 Nobel Economics Prize

Robert Hall of Stanford and Michael Woodford of Columbia won the 2026 Nobel economics prize, announced Monday, October 12, 2026, in Stockholm by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The award, formally the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel and worth 12 million Swedish crowns (about $1.2 million), went for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation. It was the last Nobel of the 2026 cycle. John Hassler, chair of the prize committee, said the laureates’ work gave a stable theoretical foundation for models central banks and governments use worldwide and better equips them for shocks such as energy crises or sudden shifts in household consumption. A statement said the winners helped smooth the economy’s peaks and valleys. Their models support well-timed fiscal and monetary measures to limit damaging swings. Sources differ slightly on origin: one ties first award to 1969; another says Sweden’s central bank created it in 1968. It is not from Nobel’s 1895 will. Only three women have won, most recently Claudia Goldin in 2023. 2025 winners were Mokyr, Aghion and Howitt for creative destruction. Clarivate had flagged other research areas as possible picks.