Tag Archives: nobel prize in economics

Fifty years ago this year, the King of Sweden presented with royal pomp the first ever Nobel medals in economics. The prize has been dogged by controversy ever since. Alfred Nobel the founder of the awards never wanted an economics prize, hisde scendants want it scrapped and the economist F.A. Hayek said it was dangerous.That’s not the half. Serious thinkers argue that the prize in ‘economic sciences’, as it’s called, has given economic ideas which favour the rich and powerful the gloss of...

Paraphrasing that nineteenth-century critic of political economy, we might say that “economic decision-making appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.” We might credit Thaler and other behavioral economists, then, for having taken a first step in challenging the traditional neoclassical account of rational decision-making. But they stop...

Explanation of why expected utility theory is "an ex-hyoptheis."  Actually, there is a lot more wrong with it such hypotheses used as assumptions in the construction of homo economicus, and the exportation of homo economicus from theory to practical use. Homo economicus is a theoretical construct used to simplify the complexities of human behavior for use in an economic model. But human behavior is not limited to economics other than in quite specialized cases, where it is reasonable...

By William K. BlackFebruary 27, 2017     Bloomington, MN How has the Swedish Central Bank’s committee that awards prizes in Economics in honor of Nobel responded to the field’s abject failures regarding the recent financial crisis and the Great Recession?  A lesser group would display humility, acknowledge its failures, and promise a fundamental rethink of the field.  Neoclassical economists, however, are made of sterner stuff.  The committee’s response is to praise the discipline for...