Mankiw Paraphrases Today’s Nobel News

Greg Mankiw paraphrases the news of President Obama winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize:

Pfuffnick’s Nobel Economics Prize triumph hailed by many

LONDON — The surprise choice of first-year graduate student Quintus Pfuffnick for the Nobel Prize in Economics drew praise from much of the world Friday even as many pointed out the youthful economist has not yet published anything in scholarly journals.

The new PhD candidate was hailed for his willingness to tackle difficult problems, his commitment to improving the economic system, and his goal of bringing efficiency and equality into harmony.

Professor Paul Krugman of Princeton, who won the prize in 2008, said Pfuffnick’s award shows great things are expected from him in the coming years.

“In a way, it’s an award coming near the beginning of the first year in grad school of a relatively young economist that anticipates an even greater contribution towards making our economy a better place for all,” he said. “It is an award that speaks to the promise of Mr Pfuffnick’s message of hope.”

He said the prize is a “wonderful recognition of Pfuffnick’s essay in his grad school application.”

Obama Awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Thoughts?

Update: A reader points me to an article published yesterday by The Economist on the odds of winning the Nobel Peace Prize:

And here is the best line from the short article:

In recent years the prize-giving academy has been critised for awarding the prize for services to non-specific do-goodery rather than for promoting peace directly.

I guess the criticism stands.

Wal-Mart: America’s Most Generous Corporation

According to Forbes, Wal-Mart was the most generous corporation in America in 2007 (probably the world too), donating $301 million in to the Children’s Miracle Network, Feeding America, The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the United Way of America, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Wal-Mart was nearly twice as generous as the most profitable company in the world, Exxon, which gave $173 million in the same year, ranking #3 on Forbes generosity ranking.

Here’s a case that Wal-Mart deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

HT: Mark J. Perry