Two Americans Share Nobel Prize for Economics

 　　Americans Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims share the 2011 Nobel prize in economics for providing ways to understand the impact of policy changes on the economy. The prize is based on old research that is of great interest in the current global financial crisis.

　　"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided¹ to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, 2011, to Professor Thomas J. Sargent at New York University, New York, USA and Professor Christopher A. Sims at Princeton University, Princeton, USA," said Professor Staffan Normark.

　　Sixty-eight year-old Thomas Sargent is a professor of economics at New York University. Christopher Sims, also 68, is a professor of economics and banking² at Princeton University.

　　Thomas Sargent, 68, a professor at New York University who won the Nobel economics prize, teaches a class on October 10, 2011.

　　Both men have studied how economic policy, such as raising interest rates or cutting taxes, affects such variables as GDP and inflation.

　　Professor Sargent’s work was based on a study of inflation policies in the post-World War II era, when many countries initially³ implemented⁴ a high-inflation policy.

　　Professor Sims’s so-called "vector auto-regression" analysis has been applied⁵ to examine, among other things, how interest rates set by central banks affects the economy.

　　Central bankers and government officials use the work of the two men to determine how changes in policy affect the economy.

　　Their work has come under fire since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, as governments and central banks in Europe and the United States struggle to deal with serious economic problems.

　　Danny Quay⁶, professor of economics at the London School of Economics, studied under Sargent. He called the choice "brilliant."

　　"The work that these two people did is going to be hugely important for helping⁷ us properly analyze⁸ how we come out of the current desperate financial situation we find ourselves in," said Quay.

　　But Sims told a news conference in Stockholm by telephone that resolving the current financial turmoil⁹ is not going to be an easy task.

　　"I don't have any simple answer, but I think the methods that I have used, and Tom has developed, are central to finding our way out of this mess. I think they point to a way to try to unravel¹⁰ why our serious problems develop and new research using these methods may help us lead us out of it," said Sims.

　　Both men carried out their research independently in the 1970s and 1980s. They will share the approximately $1.5 million prize.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

10 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。