© Stefan Holenstein

This year’s Carl Menger Prize for Economics has been awarded to economist Ricardo Reis. Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, presented Mr Reis with the award – which comes with prize money of €20,000 – at the 2022 Annual Conference of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik) at the Stadtcasino in Basel. The prize is awarded jointly by the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Swiss National Bank in recognition of excellence in research in the areas of monetary economics and monetary policy.

© Stefan Holenstein

A Portuguese national, Ricardo Reis is a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science and ranks among Europe’s most respected macroeconomists. Thomas Jordan used his laudation to highlight Ricardo Reis’s career-long devotion to key issues for central banks and monetary policy, noting that his research has shaped what is known about how expectations drive inflation. Mr Reis’s work could hardly be more topical than it is today, the SNB Governor remarked, mentioning a paper published just this June in which Reis looks at what is driving the current burst of high inflation in Europe and the United States, especially. Mr Jordan also singled out other works by Reis on topics including the optimal mandate for central banks.

Academic advisor to numerous central banks

Ricardo Reis received his PhD from Harvard University, conducted research at Columbia University for eight years, and returned to his alma mater, the London School of Economics, in 2016. The Portuguese economist has held editorial positions with the most respected international journals, such as the “American Economic Review”, the “American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics” and the “Journal of Monetary Economics”. He is an academic advisor to numerous central banks and institutions, and is the recipient of many awards for top economists, including the Bernácer Prize for best European economist under the age of 40 and the European Economics Association’s Yrjö Jahnsson Award.

Joint award fosters research

© Stefan Holenstein

The Carl Menger Prize has been jointly awarded by the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Swiss National Bank since 2014. It is awarded in recognition of excellence in research in the areas of monetary and international macroeconomics or financial market stability. By sponsoring this prize, the three central banks aim to foster research on monetary economics. In cooperation with the German Economic Association, it is awarded every two years to young researchers who hold teaching positions in Europe. Candidates can be nominated, inter alia, by the research departments of the three central banks. To qualify for the prize, they must be engaged as an academic in Europe and below the age of 45 at the time it is awarded.