And so why, we are obliged to ask, has one of the most important discoveries in the history of economics failed to inspire a concerted effort to develop a better theory? Perhaps it has to do with Mandelbrot himself and his position vis à vis the kingmakers of economics who reserve the right to bestow acknowledgment. Why has Mandelbrot not been recognized, say, with a Nobel Prize in economics? Because he is considered an “outsider”—trained as a mathematician and active in research that ranges well beyond economics alone? Or has he failed to play by establishment rules and violated some unwritten code of economist conduct?
Why, indeed, should Mandelbrot receive a Nobel prize in economics? The Nobel is the ne plus ultra of global recognition; it carries considerable political weight; it does not go unnoticed; the very fact of the award can stir things up. In Mandelbrot’s case, everyone would be made aware that classical economics – quite literally the emperor of our global economy – is without clothes. Younger economists and students around the world would be motivated to search for a better explanation of how economies work and why, and to propose alternative theories validated by actual data and subject to empirical scrutiny. Putting all of us, as real science always does, in the temporarily uncomfortable position of not knowing in order that we may know.
http://www.wilmott.com/detail.cfm?articleID=342
From the Emperor With No Clothes article:
And so why, we are obliged to ask, has one of the most important discoveries in the history of economics failed to inspire a concerted effort to develop a better theory? Perhaps it has to do with Mandelbrot himself and his position vis à vis the kingmakers of economics who reserve the right to bestow acknowledgment. Why has Mandelbrot not been recognized, say, with a Nobel Prize in economics? Because he is considered an “outsider”—trained as a mathematician and active in research that ranges well beyond economics alone? Or has he failed to play by establishment rules and violated some unwritten code of economist conduct?
Why, indeed, should Mandelbrot receive a Nobel prize in economics? The Nobel is the ne plus ultra of global recognition; it carries considerable political weight; it does not go unnoticed; the very fact of the award can stir things up. In Mandelbrot’s case, everyone would be made aware that classical economics – quite literally the emperor of our global economy – is without clothes. Younger economists and students around the world would be motivated to search for a better explanation of how economies work and why, and to propose alternative theories validated by actual data and subject to empirical scrutiny. Putting all of us, as real science always does, in the temporarily uncomfortable position of not knowing in order that we may know.