This just in:
STOCKHOLM—The Nobel Foundation, under pressure to cut costs following sluggish returns on capital in recent years, is slashing the value of its prestigious prizes for the first time in 63 years while also looking to trim in other areas, such as expenses related to its annual banquet.
Winners of the 2012 Nobel Prizes will be paid 8 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.1 million, representing a 20% decline from the 10 million, or $1.4 million, paid out last year. The Nobel Foundation typically gives out prizes each year in six categories spanning medicine to literature to chemistry.
The Nobel Peace Prize, the most popular of the prizes, has become one of the world’s most coveted distinctions.
The cut comes as organizers cope with economic instability, particularly in the equity markets where the Nobel Foundation has traditionally put a high concentration of its assets. In recent years, overhead expenses and prize money have outrun investment returns.
Maybe they should blame those Keynesian economists they anointed.
That’s right, the only ones at fault for the decline in the Nobel Foundation’s equity portfolio are the Keynesian Nobel Prize winners, not the Freshwater laureates proposing a dismantling of all regulatory structures, nor for that matter the unscrupulous bank executives, the Republicans who dominated the White House and both legislative branches prior to the financial crisis, or anyone else with a Republican or Libertarian slant. Better yet, let’s all just blame Paul Krugman for everything bad that’s happened since 2008, outlaw the Democratic party, then force the Nobel Foundation to adopt the gold standard and pay all future prize awards in bullion. That should solve all our problems!
Have a martini (shaken-not-stirred) and chill out Mr Bond.
If a band of robbers flee the scene and only the get-away driver is caught, we still prosecute the get-away driver because he aided in the heist.
There are plenty of bad actors to be scorned when it comes to the question of who is promoting bad economic policy. However, for some reason people and TPTB seem to still listen to these Nobel anointed scholars when they consistently have been proven to be wrong headed and suggest that “More Stimulus”, “Print Money”, “Alien Invasions” are all solutions to the fact that we as a nation (if not the world) have borrowed and spent too much money. Certain Nobel winners spew their illogical nonsense more than others. Krugman’s name stands out — you said it — not me.
Plenty of folks to pin the tail-of-blame of the fiscal-wreck-donkey. Nobel Prize winners are easy marks.
James, you’ve got it!
I believe that last sentence has removed Jeff from consideration for any future Nobel prizes in economics or literature.
It’s about time this foundation filed with politicized dinosaurs takes a hit. Politics have become an all important part of the process. Just look at how much they despised former President Bush when they presented the Nobel Prize to President Obama, even though he had just begun his reign as President. Achievement is no longer an important part of the process. Perhaps the next best thing is for the organization to become defunct.
Jeff: hahaha, this is about as ironic as the brilliant economic thinker who caused losses for Harvard’s endowment fund, what’s his name, Barry Bummers, no … umm, Garry Gunners … no, that’s not it either… oh!
I got it!
Larry Summers! Where did he end up? Economic advisor to the president. It’s the old Keynesian notion. If something (or someone) is a failure at a smaller scale, then try it (or him) at a larger scale.
Now, we just need to give the economists at the Nobel Prize a new lease on life, perhaps as bank CEOs or maybe FinMins!