The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to two American researchers, Robert Hall and Michael Woodford. They received the prize for work that improved methods for stabilizing economies during crises, infohub.kz reports.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the laureates are Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University. The Nobel Committee recognized their contribution with the citation "for the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization."
The researchers' work helped create models that enable governments and central banks to more effectively mitigate economic downturns and curb excessive growth. "Timely fiscal and monetary policy measures can smooth economic ups and downs," the academy's materials state.
Previously, Keynesian models did not always help in dealing with crises. During the oil crises of the 1970s, Western countries faced high inflation, unemployment, and slow economic growth.
Hall and Woodford proposed building economic models that take into account the decisions of individual households and firms. According to their approach, people's and businesses' expectations about the future influence savings, prices, and the state of the economy.
"The laureates' work provided a solid theoretical foundation for the models that central banks and governments around the world use today," said John Hassler, chair of the prize committee.