Kevin J. CREATURE
‪@kevinjkircher.com‬

It's Nobel Prize week! A good time to remember that the economics prize was created by Swedish bankers in 1968 (67 years after the 5 original Nobel prizes) against the wishes of the Nobel family, partly to legitimize neoclassical economics in the public eye and partly to help banks avoid regulation.

Philip Mirowski - Why Is There a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics?
YouTube video by New Economic Thinking
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October 6, 2025 at 8:18 AM

Memorial Prize in Economics?

New Economic Thinking
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15,888 Views
2011 Aug 17
The Nobel Memorial Prize defines high achievement in economics, and it validates the discipline's claim for scientific authority. And yet, historically, it can be understood as a reflection of domestic policy conflicts in Sweden. This, Philip Mirowski would say, is but one example of the multifaceted nature of history. He and his team investigate how the Bank of Sweden's goal of political independence wound up elevating the status of neoclassical thinking within the economics profession. Writing the history of the Nobel Memorial Prize to tease out the influence of economic doctrines on policy norms in recent decades -- this is new economic thinking.

New Economic Thinking
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