Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, 2 others share Nobel Prize in economics

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and two other U.S. economists were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics Monday for research seeking to help the United States avoid financial collapses in the future.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences went to Bernanke of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.; Douglas W. Diamond, of the University of Chicago and Philip H. Dybvig, of Washington University in St. Louis, for studies that "demonstrate the importance of preventing widespread bank collapses."

The Academy recognized the 68-year-old Bernanke for his examination into the causes of the Great Depression and more recently the 2008 housing market crash.

"The Great Depression of the 1930s paralyzed the world's economies for many years and had vast societal consequences," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement announcing the award. "However, we have managed subsequent financial crises better thanks to research insights from this year's laureates."

Bernanke was at the helm of the U.S. central bank during President Barack Obama's first and second terms, taking office in 2006 under President George W. Bush, and serving in the role until 2014. His response to the 2008 financial crisis led to him being named Time Person of the Year in 2009.

Diamond, 68, and Dybvig led research that demonstrated the government's importance in providing security on deposits to prevent panic among the public.

"The laureates' insights have improved our ability to avoid both serious crises and expensive bailouts," said Nobel Committee Chairman Tore Ellingsen.

This year's winners will receive a cash award of nearly $1 million, along with the iconic gold medal that features the profile of 19th-century Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The announcements began a week ago with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo winning the Nobel Prize in medicine for his research that proved a genetic link between humans and Neanderthals.

That was followed by the physics award, presented Tuesday to three scientists for 50 years of independent research that delivered new understanding into the behavior of tiny particles -- like photons and electrons -- that form the foundations of the universe.

On Wednesday, two American scientists and a third from Denmark won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for research that could lead to improved cancer treatments through a molecular process that steers medicines to vulnerable areas inside the body.

French novelist Annie Ernaux won the Nobel Prize in Literature Thursday for a deeply honest body of autobiographical works that reveal how she overcame numerous personal misfortunes.

On Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three human-rights activists including Ales Bialiatski, a Russian opposition advocate jailed in Belarus amid the war in Ukraine.