Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

A People's Choice Guide to the Economics Nobel

Here are a few possible candidates who have had a significant impact on the world.

October 6, 2017 at 5:32 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

Golden opportunity.
Photographer: Jonathan Nackstand/AFP/Getty Images

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Because economics is such a diverse field, with many distinguished thinkers, predicting the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics is notoriously difficult. But suppose that we narrowed the field, so as to focus on candidates who have not only made important theoretical contributions, but have also had a significant impact on the world, and affected the lives of numerous people?

If that is the standard, here are some leading contenders for the prize, which is to be announced on Monday: