The University of Zurich (UZH) has pulled off what many in academia are calling a dream hire — United States–based Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join its Department of Economics next year to establish a new center for development economics.

“I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics,” announced Florian Scheuer, UBS Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics, in a post on X.

As Scheuer put it, their arrival marks “a true quantum leap” for the university — and a moment of pride for Zurich’s growing status as a hub for world-class economic research.

However, the statement made no mention of why

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