Critique Of The 2026 Nobel Winners For Economics | Hn 281

Adam (0:07)

Hi, Bob. Hey, Adam.

Bob, I hear a little something in your voice, emotional, and I got to tell you, I don't know about you, but I'm hopping mad, hopping mad. How are you feeling?

Bob Murphy (0:22)

Well, I read Robert, and I thought I won, finally.

Adam (0:28)

Yes, what Bob is referring to, ladies and gentlemen. Yesterday, those filthy Swedes gave out the Nobel Prize in Economics to people, and one guy even had a first name of Robert, but did he give it to Dr. Robert Murphy? No, they did not. No, they did not. Now, here's the fellers that they did give it to. I'm tempted to read this slide and make fun of a language I don't understand, but I guess I won't.

The Swedes gave the prize this year to Robert E. Hall.

Bob Murphy (1:05)

The first one, I thought I was having a stroke. For microeconomics, got fundamental for it.

Adam (1:11)

It's funny because you know, they're relatively new words. It's not like they evolved up there. They're kind of, we know what these words are. It's just like, yeah, if the blood flow to the right hemisphere, your brain wasn't working right.

Bob Murphy (1:24)

For people like on the treadmill or something, Adam's flash in this slide and it has words that look like they're English, but they're not.

Adam (1:32)

For microeconomics, got fundamental for macroeconomics, stabilisering, which means for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization, which is also nonsense words, because I don't think that's a thing. But I'll ask you about that later. So I'm sorry.

Bob Murphy (1:51)

Can I just say my funny joke on X? I don't know if it was like their official account for these guys or what, but so, or maybe it would, you know what, it might've been like the employer or like the Hoover institution or something. But anyway, somebody was touting this and I just wrote and said, oh, is that why the macro economy has been so stable?

Adam (2:11)

So stable. Thanks guys. Yeah. So the people to credit for all the stability you've been experiencing lately, macro economically is Robert E. Hall of Stanford University, USA and Michael Woodford of Columbia University, USA.

I'm sure they're fine gentlemen from fine institutions, but I'm still hopping mad.

I thought they were finally going to just wake up and admit the error of their ways and just give it to you, man.

Bob Murphy (2:40)

Yeah. Well, there's always next year.

Adam (2:45)

Indeed there is. So this is your wheelhouse, Dr. Murphy. What do you want to say about this year prize? These gentlemen's work and all like that.

Bob Murphy (2:56)

Okay. So on this one, let me start out folks with a bit of a humbling admission that I am not an expert in these guys' papers. So I can't, you know, I'm not going to go through and tell you, I know enough, Adam, I can talk about like the general themes, kind of give people an insight into certain aspects of, you know, what happened in macroeconomics, you know, from like the 50s to the present. And, you know, what are they talking about in this prize? Then we just take things where you want to go. So that phrase for, and also I should say, this prize, how am I trying to put it?

These guys aren't dummies.

Adam (3:40)

The grapes are sour and you didn't want them anyway?

Bob Murphy (3:43)

No, these guys aren't dummies.

A bunch of free market libertarian types are excited that they won. And I understand why they are. So if you were like, for example, Alex Tabarrok over at Marginal Revolution, and by the way, whenever the Nobel is announced for economics, you should go check out what Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowan have to say at marginalrevolution.com. That's like, they are the best at this kind of thing. And David R. Henderson typically writes the piece for the Wall Street Journal, you know, like he does research and just sees like, do I know enough about this, these people to, you know, contribute? So anyway, they're always the go-to ones that I do to see, you know, let's get me up to speed on who these people are, what they did. But in any event, that catchphrase for micro-foundations, for macroeconomic stabilization, let me just say a little bit about that, Adam, and again, we take it, you got to, you're the proxy for the audience here. You got to decide like, no, we're moving on or let's, let's probe that a little bit, it intrigues me.

Adam (4:47)

I am the everyman.

Bob Murphy (4:49)

You are, you are. So old school Keynesianism, what was sometimes called hydraulic Keynesianism that had a payday like in the 50s and 60s, let's say.