When Friedrich Hayek won the Nobel Prize, his entire lecture – titled ‘The Pretence of Knowledge’ – was an attack on economics itself. He believed economists were more worried about looking scientific than actually being scientific. The lecture was so controversial that Economica , the LSE journal that had published Hayek’s work since he was a young professor, refused to print the speech unless he made changes. Hayek, of course, refused.

But that was the spirit of the Economics Nobel back then. It rewarded rebels. Since, the prize has become a monopoly for the ‘good boys’ of academia; those who publish in the top journals, collect citations and perfect their h-index. Today, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for their contributions

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