Economics 2026 · Announced Oct 12
Robert E. Hall
An economist who showed that spending follows news, not just income.
Born 1943 · United States · Stanford University
48 yrs
The wait, from Hall's spending paper (1978) to the prize
1943
Year born
2
People sharing this prize
Oct 12
Announced in 2026
Their part in the prize
Hall's 1978 paper argued that if people spread their spending over their lives, changes in spending should be hard to predict. Only surprises move it. The idea reshaped how economists model households.
Why it matters
When a central bank raises or cuts rates to fight inflation or a slump, it is leaning on this kind of thinking.
The road to the prize
- 1978Hall publishes his paper on how forward-looking people spend.
- 2003Woodford publishes Interest and Prices, a guide for central banks.
- 2026Prize in Economic Sciences.
Shared with
The official reason for both: "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation"