The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Robert E. Hall, Professor at Stanford University, and Michael Woodford, Professor at Columbia University, for their contributions to understanding macroeconomic dynamics and the role of economic policies in stabilising the economy.

The award, announced on 12 October by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recognises the development of macroeconomic models based on the analysis of decisions made by households and businesses. These models have transformed the study of economic fluctuations and helped to guide monetary and fiscal policies.

Testimonials from Luiss Professors Pietro Reichlin and Pierpaolo Benigno

Pietro Reichlin and Pierpaolo Benigno, Professors at Luiss, speak to Michael Woodford's scientific and personal qualities. They have had the opportunity to work with the American economist throughout their academic careers.

"Michael Woodford made a decisive contribution to the emergence and establishment of New Keynesian Macroeconomics, which now underpins most of the models used by central banks," notes Pietro Reichlin, who had Woodford as his doctoral supervisor at Columbia University.

Pierpaolo Benigno, who had Woodford as his supervisor at Princeton University and later collaborated with him on research projects on monetary policy, also recalls his extraordinary intellectual abilities: "I had the privilege of getting to know Mike as my supervisor at Princeton and subsequently working with him on research projects concerning the formulation of monetary policies. He has a truly brilliant and extraordinary mind. Working with him gave me the feeling of interacting with artificial intelligence even before it was invented."