The Nobel Prize for Economics this year was won by Americans William Nordhaus and Paul Romer. The Commission appreciated that they brought knowledge on climate change and technological innovation to the field of economics. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has published the names of the laureates on the 8th of October. The award is accompanied by a financial prize of nine million Swedish crowns.
William D. Nordhaus received a prize for “integrating climate change and integrating technological innovation into long-term macroeconomic analysis.”
Nordhaus acts as a professor at Yale University. His contribution lies in fundamental research into the economics of climate change. It has come to the conclusion that mankind ignores the huge cost of inaction.
“As soon as we start trying to reduce carbon emissions, we will be surprised that it was not as hard as we thought. Above all the danger of highly alarming predictions lies in the fact that people lead to feelings of apathy and hopelessness, “Nordhaus said in response to the award.
Romer did not expect the award
The second laureate is Paul Romer. He works as a professor at New York University, also highlighted the importance of optimism in the fight against climate change. “People are capable of great results if we set our minds,” he said.
“One of today’s problems is that people think environmental protection will be so costly and difficult that they prefer to ignore the problem and look like it does not exist,” he added. Romer also said he did not expect his victory and did not accept two unsolicited calls from an unknown number. Finally, the commission did not let off and called for the third time.
The official name of the award is the Swedish National Bank Award for Economic Science Development in honor of Alfred Nobel.
