Press Statement 18-014

Statement on the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2018

NSF-funded researchers awarded prize for expanding the understanding of global scale macroeconomics

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, winners of the 2018 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel.

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, winners of the 2018 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences


October 10, 2018

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The Nobel Assembly has awarded the 2018 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to William Nordhaus of Yale University and Paul Romer of New York University for expanding the understanding of global scale macroeconomics. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) has supported the research of both laureates with multiple awards, including more than three decades of support for Romer.

NSF Director France Córdova issued the following statement on the Nobel announcement:

The work of this year's Nobel laureates in economics demonstrates the importance of new scientific insights for the global economy. Both developed new methods that help us understand how to create economic prosperity and sustainable growth. Nordhaus integrated key findings from chemistry and physics into macroeconomics, resulting in new methods to understand the interplay between global, atmospheric public goods and economic outcomes. Romer's research highlights the importance of science and technology as long-term drivers of economic growth -- in the U.S. and around the world. His work has helped us understand the specific economic factors that lead firms to invest in innovation, resulting in new findings showing how governments can encourage new ideas.

The impact of their work illustrates why NSF's investments in basic research and its support for early career researchers benefit the U.S. economy. Each laureate has shown how new scientific findings in fields ranging from atmospheric science to information technology can spur the kind of economic growth that benefits the nation and the world.

-NSF-

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Stanley Dambroski, NSF, (703) 292-7728, email: sdambros@nsf.gov

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