The Ignoble Prize for Economics

The Real World Economic Review is taking votes for its Ignoble Prize for Economics, "to be awarded to the three economists who contributed most to enabling the Global Financial Collapse (GFC)." The shortlist is outstanding, and indeed many of the nominees who didn't make the shortlist deserve greater recognition for their roles in the destruction of real economic understanding. The candidates are:

• Fischer Black and Myron Scholes
• Eugene Fama
• Milton Friedman
• Alan Greenspan
• Assar Lindbeck
• Robert Lucas
• Richard Portes
• Edward Prescott and Finn E. Kydland
• Paul Samuelson
• Larry Summers 

I hadn't heard of Richard Portes (his economic "achievements" being rather less significant than his political "achievements"), but once I read his resume (which you can find in brief on the same page as the poll), I had to demote Robert Lucas to fourth place so I could give Portes my vote. This has provided a key missing piece in the jigsaw of causes for the complete obliteration of real economics in the UK, to a greater extent than any other country.

One name is particularly conspicuous by its absence. Where is Shriti Vadera? Gordon Brown is more culpable for the global mess than people realise, and guess which "beneficiary" of an Oxford PPE education joined his team as economic adviser in 1999, roughly when he started his spending splurge? She is now economic adviser to the G20, because you just can't do enough damage within the British government.

A poll for a Noble Prize for Economics will follow, but get your votes in now for the biggest knaves or fools in the field.