Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, otherwise known as Simon Wolfson the chief executive of British retailer Next Group and a member of the house of Lords, has announced that he will be funding a £250,000 prize aimed at finding an exit policy for countries wishing to leave the European Monetary Union.
The Wolfson Economics Prize will be awarded to the person who is able to articulate how best to manage the orderly exit of one or more member states from the European Monetary Union.
There is now a real possibility that political or economic pressure may force one or more states to leave the Euro. If the process is managed badly it would threaten European savings, employment and the stability of the international banking system. This prize aims to ensure that high quality economic thought is given to how the Euro might be restructured into more stable currencies. The prize, worth £250,000 (€286,000), is the second biggest cash prize to be awarded to an academic after the Nobel Prize. Deadline for submissions will be January 31st 2012.
According to the attached press release it would seem that the prize is targeted at top academic economists from around the world. Given the current state of the world’s economy I have no idea why such a important prize would be limited in this way. So all I can say is that if you think you have what it takes, economic academic or not, register yourself for the prize via email: [email protected]
If you get knocked back due to your lack of academic credentials, then at least leave your idea in the comments section below so at a minimum the MacroBusiness community can bask in your brilliance.
I would also note that January 31st 2012 could be a bit late!