The 2026 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (formally the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) has gone to two American economists, Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford. They were honoured for research that built the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation, that is, explaining how the decisions of individual households and firms shape the way governments and central banks can steady the wider economy. Their work underpins modern thinking on monetary policy and business-cycle management used by central banks, including in setting interest rates.