Monday, October 12, 2009

If Obama can win the Nobel Peace Prize...


Who could win the Nobel Economics Prize?

Just about anyone with good intentions I reckon.

It'll be announced late tonight, and the Obama win has thrown the economics field wide open:

Greg Mankiw:

First-Year Grad Student Wins Nobel Prize in Economics!

From the Associated Press (with some light editing):

Pfuffnick's Nobel Economics Prize triumph hailed by many

LONDON — The surprise choice of first-year graduate student Quintus Pfuffnick for the Nobel Prize in Economics drew praise from much of the world Friday even as many pointed out the youthful economist has not yet published anything in scholarly journals.

The new PhD candidate was hailed for his willingness to tackle difficult problems, his commitment to improving the economic system, and his goal of bringing efficiency and equality into harmony...


So.

I reckon Australian candidates have a chance now.

Perhaps:

- Wayne Swan for prescience in omitting details from his Budget speech that will turn out to be wrong anyway;

- Godwin Grech for his impressive ability to craft both questions and answers for the Senate economics committee;

- Rory Robertson and Steve Keen (joint award) for the courage to stand - and walk - behind their forecasts;

- Malcom Turnbull and Joe Hockey (joint award) for early success in their campaign to rid Australia of $315 billion in government debt. Westpac has already sliced its estimate to $108 billion;

Perhaps not.

But seriously...

- Fred Argy for getting just about everything right very early in the crisis and suggesting actions the government should have taken way back then.

Any others?

Here's what the London bookmakers think.

And here's the Harvard betting pool.