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Thanks for the information.
Nobel accuses the awarding institution of misusing his family's name, and states that no member of the Nobel family has ever had the intention of establishing a prize in economics.[41] He explained that "Nobel despised people who cared more about profits than society's well-being", saying that "There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize", and that the association with the Nobel prizes is "a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation".[
Unfortunately I have to strenuously object to the idea that economists care more about profits than society's well-being--at least, no more so than any other profession.
It's a misconception that has allowed great foolishness to be perpetrated. Most recently, during the pandemic. A lot of the people warning about lockdowns early on were health economists like Jay Battarachaya but they were ignored because "they cared more about money than people's lives." I literally had someone tell me this to my face when I warned about overreacting to Covid, and that the data was showing it was only dangerous for a subset of the population.
Economics has long been known as the "dismal science" and therefore unpopular with utopians because we're always pointing out tradeoffs. As Thomas Sowell says: "There are no solutions, only tradeoffs."
That quote wasn't about economists. In fact I agree with you completely. That was a quote from the Nobel family criticizing the Swiss bank who took the Nobel name in order to set up an ersatz (@cryotosensei) award that really wasn't a Nobel prize.
Interesting. Thanks for the context
Thanks for using my newly learnt word in context!
Alfred Nobel created dynamite, he was a chemist. He and his family owned an arms manufacturer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofors
Economics is the study of human behavior (how do we optimize utility).
Business is the pursuit of profits.
Too many idiots conflate economics with business or wall street.
I support both endeavors.
Money may not be a noble objective but it's cleaner than most
Stop the presses, Nobel uttered comments that were anti-semitic
Nobel has also been criticized for displays of antisemitism. In his letters to Hess, he wrote "In my experience, Jews never do anything out of good will. They act merely out of selfishness or a desire to show off .... all others exist to be fleeced."
https://thejewishindependent.com.au/anti-semitic-chauvinistic-side-alfred-nobel
At least he wasn't blind or clueless
Except that Alfred Nobel died childless and no heirs to his fortune
If he had heirs there would be no Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize is always given on December 10, the day of his death
You're right. I don't know who constitutes what's known as the family. But, economics wasn't one of the original prizes.
but Peace was one of the original!!!!
Yes. Not economics, though
The family criticisms are dumb because they don't speak for Alfred Nobel.
The Prizes were created by one person not his brother or sister or parents or cousins or nephews or nieces
When Alfred died in 1896, economics was not yet a field or a new field not accepted by academics and the 'experts'
Economics is not one of the original prizes and yet I believe it's more prestigious than Peace and ceremoney is in Sweden and cash prize in 10 million Swedish kron
Peace prize ceremony is in Oslo Norway
Honestly the whole thing seems dumb to me. It seems like they have become who can be more woke contests. Who comprises the so called "family"?
Oh that's some perfectly added context :)
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, aka the affinity scam among the Nobel prizes
Alfred Nobel did not create this one. It is funded by a bank.