Today much of the world should be waking up to learn the name of the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics. Journalists are scrambling to summarize arcane research and intricate models. But “The Nobel Factor,” by Avner Offer and Gabriel Söderberg, claims to provide some perspective. The authors claim that the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (as it is officially called), first awarded in 1969, has given economists a scientific aura that they do not deserve. The authors insist, moreover, that it has subtler effects, including supporting a laissez-faire ideology.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 09, 2016 21:56 UTC