As the world struggles to sustain a fragile economic recovery, the Nobel Prize for economics was awarded on Monday to three researchers whose work explains how market frictions can hinder the smooth functioning of an economy and its ability to adjust to shocks.
Their work, which shows how markets can sometimes lead to inefficient outcomes, has influenced economists’ understanding of unemployment.
One of the laureates, Peter Diamond, is a nominee for the board of the Federal Reserve. His original nomination by President Barack Obama in April was endorsed by the Senate’s banking committee but the full Senate failed to keep the nomination alive over the summer recess.