The economics Nobel committee was majority-staffed by neoliberal economists during its first six years.

Evidence

Hence it was the great good fortune of the NTC in 1969 to have either actual MPS members or their overt sympathizers conveniently available to be plucked from the Riksbank stables to staff the early ersatz Nobel committee, essentially hand-picked by Åsbrink in the first instance. Far from conforming to some bland notion of “ideological balance,” the Bank of Sweden Prize committee had one actual MPS member on board from its inception until 1995, and during the early years was majority dominated by neoliberal economists. For the first six years they were in the majority—which will shortly go some distance in explaining the contentious 1974 prize—and thereafter were represented primarily by Assar Lindbeck, who had an outsized influence on deliberations in the key years from 1974 to 1994. Since that period, their representation has been diminished, and this has had a pronounced effect on the track record of the prize. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 491

Categorization

• XREF: Core evidence for the myth-fracturing thesis: the “Bank of Sweden Prize” — not an original Nobel — was staffed to tilt awards toward MPS members, reshaping the canon of economics. — connects to: Neoliberals held about 38-40 percent of economics Nobel prizes since 1993 — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 494; The economics prize consciously moved the profession in a neoliberal direction — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 484; 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 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The economics prize consciously moved the profession in a neoliberal direction #corroborates (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 484
• The 1974 Nobel pairing hid a neoliberal project to legitimize the Mont Pèlerin Society #exemplifies (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 525
• Neoliberals held about 38-40 percent of economics Nobel prizes since 1993 #complicates (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 494
• The Nobel economics prize was created to win public deference for central bank independence #expands (0.72) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 476