A comment on my post reviewing The Nobel Factor by Avner Offer and Gabriel Soderberg asked if the book covers the reasons Joan Robinson was never awarded the prize. There is a passing mention: “In the list of those who were denied the prize, it is difficult not to conclude that Robinson and Galbraith were kept out for ideological reasons.” Other non-winners in contention include, among others, Will Baumol, Zvi Griliches, Albert Hirschman, Moses Abramovitz, Harold Hotelling, Anthony Atkinson, Dale Jorgensen, Partha Dasgupta, Nicholas Kaldor and – the other woman – Anna Schwartz. A mixed bunch, some still alive of course.My comment on this was,
Hotelling died only 4 years after the prize started so its not surprising he didn’t get it. Robinson, Griliches and Schwartz could be considered a bit unlucky. Was Kaldor ever really in the running? If so for what? Baumol, Atkinson, Jorgenson are still in the running. Galbraith? What planet are these guys on?! The rest I’m not sure were/are genuine contenders.But as we are only a week away from the announcement of 2016 prize we do face the question of who is likely to get it this time round? Baumol/Kirzner for entrepreneurship is always picked by many. I'm going for Oliver Hart/Bengt Holmstrom for contract theory/theory of the firm, Posner for law and economics is always possible. Paul Romer for growth theory (and causing trouble in macro!).
There must be others.
1 comment:
I've a perennial bid in for Woodford-Gertler (and one other, perhaps: Gali, Calvo, Rotemberg, Mankiw) for New Keynesian macro. I don't think its time yet, though. Perhaps need to wait until the macro-wars have settled down :-P
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