Ben Bernanke awarded Nobel Prize in economics

Monday, October 10, 2022, 2:00 - 2:30 p.m. EDT
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Brookings requires all staff and visitors to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 via vaccines approved by the FDA or WHO. After submitting your registration here, please proceed to the provided link on the confirmation page to complete the registration process by verifying your vaccination information.

Today, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022 to Ben Bernanke for his groundbreaking research on banks and financial crises. Bernanke shares the prize with Douglas Diamond of the University of Chicago and Philip Dybvig of Washington University in St. Louis.

Ben Bernanke analyzed the Great Depression of the 1930s, the worst economic crisis in modern history. Among other things, he showed how bank runs were a decisive factor in the crisis becoming so deep and prolonged. When the banks collapsed, valuable information about borrowers was lost and could not be recreated quickly. Society’s ability to channel savings to productive investments was thus severely diminished.

The Brookings Institution will hold a press conference today with Bernanke. Viewers can follow along with the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #BernankeNobel and submit questions using that hashtag or via email to events@brookings.edu.