---
title: "Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded to Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Thomas J. Sargent"
url: https://newscentral.site/nobel-prize-in-economics-awarded-to-robert-e-lucas-jr-and-thomas/
language: en
publisher: "News Central Site"
section: "Business"
published: 2026-10-12T10:47:00.000Z
updated: 2026-10-12T14:35:50.516Z
id: b9eca81b-a07c-46cd-860f-7f65c80d4ac3
source: "CBS MoneyWatch https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nobel-prize-economics-2-americans/"
attribution: "Link to https://newscentral.site/nobel-prize-in-economics-awarded-to-robert-e-lucas-jr-and-thomas/ and name News Central Site when you quote or summarize this story."
---

# Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded to Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Thomas J. Sargent

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in economics to American-born economists Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Thomas J. Sargent for their work on understanding how monetary policy affects inflation.

American-born economists Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Thomas J. Sargent have been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics, a prestigious honor bestowed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The prize committee acknowledged the significant contributions made by the laureates to economic theory, particularly in understanding how monetary policy affects inflation.

Their work has provided a stable foundation for the models used by central banks and governments worldwide, allowing them to better navigate economic downturns. As the academy noted, the laureates' research has helped to smooth out the economy's peaks and troughs. According to John Hassler, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, the laureates' work has had a profound impact on policy-making, enabling governments to respond more effectively to economic shocks.

The traditional view of economics held that policymakers could easily balance unemployment and inflation by adjusting interest rates or other levers. However, this approach was put to the test during the 1970s when high inflation and high unemployment persisted simultaneously, a phenomenon known as stagflation.

Hall and Woodford sought to develop a more sophisticated model that better reflected real-world economic behavior, taking into account how consumers and businesses make decisions about spending and investing.

The economics prize is officially known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. This distinction highlights a nuance that has been debated among Nobel enthusiasts, who argue that the economics prize does not meet the criteria to be considered an official Nobel Prize.

Despite this technicality, the economics prize is awarded annually on December 10, coinciding with the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896. This date also marks the occasion when prizes are presented for medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace, among other categories.

---
Source: [CBS MoneyWatch](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nobel-prize-economics-2-americans/)  
Published by News Central Site: https://newscentral.site/nobel-prize-in-economics-awarded-to-robert-e-lucas-jr-and-thomas/