Myrdal regretted accepting the 1974 Nobel and declared the economics prize a political act.

Evidence

Perhaps the person most disturbed by the prize was its other recipient. Although he did not decline the award, remorse soon set in, and Myrdal went public a few times in subsequent years suggesting he should have renounced it. He openly questioned the pairing of two such diametrically opposed thinkers in the interests of “balance.” In a widely reprinted article, he suggested the award to Milton Friedman in 1976 had finally made him see what was really going on. Economics was not a science like those celebrated by the other Nobels; due to the “confused admixture of science and politics, the awarding of a Nobel Prize in economic science will commonly be conceived as a political act of the Academy. This, of course, is what has happened in the case of Milton Friedman.” — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 521

Categorization

• XREF: Myrdal’s admission that the economics Nobel is inherently political — a science/politics boundary dispute — connects to the reader’s wider interest in how neoliberal doctrine legitimates itself through false scientificity, echoing themes in Against Postmodernism on ideology and objectivity. — connects to: The 1974 Hayek-Myrdal Nobel pairing was the most controversial award until 1994. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 518; The 1974 Nobel pairing hid a neoliberal project to legitimize the Mont Pèlerin Society — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 525; Neoliberal Nobel wins slowed after Lindbeck left the prize committee in 1994 — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 495 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The 1974 Hayek-Myrdal Nobel pairing was the most controversial award until 1994. #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 518
• The 1974 Nobel pairing hid a neoliberal project to legitimize the Mont Pèlerin Society #contradicts (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 525
• Neoliberal Nobel wins slowed after Lindbeck left the prize committee in 1994 #complicates (0.70) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 495