On October 10th, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022 to Ben Bernanke for his groundbreaking research on banks and financial crises. Bernanke shares the prize with Douglas Diamond of the University of Chicago and Philip Dybvig of Washington University in St. Louis.

Modern banking research clarifies why we have banks, how to make them less vulnerable in crises and how bank collapses exacerbate financial crises. The foundations of this research were laid by Bernanke, Diamond and Dybvig in the early 1980s. Bernanke analyzed the Great Depression of the 1930s, the worst economic crisis in modern history. Among other things, he showed how bank runs were a decisive factor in the crisis becoming so deep and prolonged. This research has been of great importance in regulating financial markets and dealing with financial crises.

The Brookings Institution held a press conference October 10th with Bernanke. Viewers followed along with the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #BernankeNobel and submitted questions using that hashtag or via email to events@brookings.edu.