# Nobel Prize in Economics: How'd They Create It? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951 "2008-10-14T21:17:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951/1 "2008-10-14T21:17:27Z")
A recent thread about Paul Krugman winning the Nobel Prize in economics (and someone’s rejoinder that it’s not _really_ a Nobel Prize) reminded me of something I’ve always wondered: How was the Swedish Central Bank able to create the “Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences”? Did they have to get permission from the Nobel family? From the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, who hand out the other Nobels in science? If I had enough money could I endow a “Nobel Memorial Prize” in whatever field I desired? These questions weren’t addressed in the Wikipedia article on the Nobel Prize in Economics. ---
**Author:** ![Pimms\_o\_clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Pimms\_o\_clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pimms_o_clock)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951/2 "2008-10-14T21:20:35Z")
Anyone can create a Nobel memorial prize in whatever they like. If they want sycophantic fucks from the same organisation that awards the real Nobel prizes to endorse it and permit it to be partly recognised then they will need to resort to bribery and political pressure. Er, allegedly :rolleyes: And no, the Nobel family are not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951/3 "2008-10-14T22:14:11Z")
The FAQ on the [website](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/faq.html) of the Nobel Foundation has this to say on adding additional prizes: > [@](#): > > I would like to propose a new Nobel Prize. > The prizes, as designated in the Will of Alfred Nobel, are in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. Only once during these years has a prize been added – a Memorial Prize – the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, donated by the Bank of Sweden to celebrate its tercentenary in 1968. The Board of Directors later decided to keep the original five prizes intact and not to permit new additions. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951/4 "2008-10-14T23:19:26Z")
> [@Pimms\_o\_clock](#): > > Anyone can create a Nobel memorial prize in whatever they like. > > If they want sycophantic fucks from the same organisation that awards the real Nobel prizes to endorse it and permit it to be partly recognised then they will need to resort to bribery and political pressure. > > Er, allegedly :rolleyes: > > And no, the Nobel family are not impressed. Even crediting such unsourced gossip, those would be the descendants of the same Nobel relatives who, umm, tried to stop any prizes being established in his name in the first place? Nobel had no immediate family by his death, but his nephews and cousins all initially wanted the will declared void and the whole prize idea abandoned, believing that they were entitled to the money instead. His executors had to settle with them for substantial sums - in what might even be described as having “to resort to bribery and political pressure” - to avoid getting bogged down in lengthy court cases. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-in-economics-howd-they-create-it/467951/5 "2008-10-15T14:14:25Z")
> [@Pimms\_o\_clock](#): > > If they want sycophantic fucks from the same organisation that awards the real Nobel prizes to endorse it and permit it to be partly recognised then they will need to resort to bribery and political pressure. [Moderating] **Pimm’s o’ clock** , a response of this kind amounts to opinion and is not particularly useful in GQ. Please refrain from such remarks in the future. Colibri General Questions Moderator