Harvard and MIT professors win Nobel prize in economics

CNN Money reports:

Two professors from Harvard and MIT have been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for contributions to contract theory -- the agreements that shape business, finance and public policy.

Oliver Hart, 68, a British economist teaching at Harvard, and Bengt Holmström, 67, a Finnish economist teaching at MIT, were announced as the winners Monday by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Contracts are essential to the functioning of modern societies," the academy said in its announcement. "Hart's and Holmström's research sheds light on how contracts help us deal with conflicting interests."

Some apologists for big government.