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| Here, at last, they thought was proper recognition for a discipline that was obviously going to play a very important role in the shaping of societies. But, as the years went by, the choice of winners left most observers perplexed. |
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| The idea was to reward pioneering contributions to economics but often, to the layperson, it was not very clear just why the particular contribution was important. |
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| Much of it was arcane theory that did little to further the cause of human happiness. As the years went by, even professional economists became cynical, saying that it was a nice way of consigning their senior colleagues to, as it were, the hall of fame, which is the American euphemism for honourable retirement. |
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| Of course, every now and then, the prize committee selected someone whose contributions were genuinely useful, persons like Robert Stone, John Nash, Ronald Coase and a few others. More often than not, though, this was not the case. |
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It is, therefore, good to see that this year
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