Americans Hall and Woodford win 2026 Nobel Prize in economics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Americans Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford the 2026 Nobel Prize in economics for their research on macroeconomic stabilization.

• The academy announced the award Monday in Stockholm, with the two laureates sharing the prize equally.
• The prize carries 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million) and will be presented December 10 in Stockholm.
• The academy cited their research on "microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization," examining how household and firm decisions shape the overall economy.
• The committee said their work helped develop new Keynesian models used by central banks and finance ministries to assess policy effects.
• Robert Hall is a professor at Stanford University and Michael Woodford is a professor at Columbia University.
• Michael Woodford said he was “elated” to receive the Nobel Prize in economics for his research.
• Their framework led to forward guidance and proved essential after the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic.
• The academy cited Hall's 1978 and 1989 papers on consumption and permanent income and Woodford's 2003 book 'Interest and Prices' as key contributions.