American Economists Win Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Economics this year goes to two Americans, Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.” The prize committee said Sims and Sargent developed methods for answering questions about how temporary increases in interest rates or tax cuts affect economic growth and inflation. The two 68-year-old economists conducted their research independently in the '70s and '80s. "Today, the methods developed by Sargent and Sims are essential tools in macroeconomic analysis," said the committee. Sargent is a professor at New York University, and Sims is a professor at Princeton University.