The Wolfson prize is the second-most lucrative prize in economics after the Nobel Prize, ensuring a healthy entry list. It is sponsored by the charitable trust of Lord Wolfson, a UK Tory peer, and is being run by the think tank Policy Exchange. In October, the competition posed this question to the world’s leading economists: “If member states leave the Economic and Monetary Union, what is the best way for the economic process to be managed to provide the soundest foundation for the future growth and prosperity of the current membership?”
The shortlisted entries, which all receive £10,000, were announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday, with the winner of the main £250,000 prize due to be unveiled in July.
Nordvig, when congratulated by EuromoneyFXNews on his achievement at being nominated for his paper “Planning for an orderly break-up of the European Monetary Union”, modestly said he was pleased just to make the shortlist.
However, EuromoneyFXNews is biased and hopes for better things to come in July for Nordvig.
That is because his winning entry was based on a paper from which EuromoneyFXNews produced a popular little article, though admittedly at the time we had no idea what a hit we had on our hands.
Of course, we don’t forget our other friends.
We also wish Neil Record, of Record Currency Management, all the best with his “If member states leave the Economic and Monetary Union, what is the best way for the economic process to be managed to provide the soundest foundation for the future growth and prosperity of the current membership?” – although we never wrote an article on the back of that.
Doubtless the other three shortlisted papers – Roger Bootle’s “Leaving the euro: a practical guide”, Catherine Dobbs’“The NEWNEY approach to unscrambling the euro” and Jonathan Tepper’s “A primer on the euro break-up: default, exit and devaluation as the optimal solution” – all have their merits. It’s just we don’t know them so well.
Admittedly, the break-up of the euro has become a bit less of a talking point since the second ECB long-term refinancing operation and the second bail-out of Greece.
However, let’s face it – the euro is not exactly scampering out of the woods just yet and by July it might well, once again, be at the front of the market’s agenda.