WE WIN!

This morning, the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Elinor Ostrom, Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and Oliver Williamson, Edgar F. Kaiser Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley for their work in the field of economic governance (which to me sounds a heck of a lot like Political Economy - we were only one word short!).

Yes that's right, you read correctly: a POLITICAL SCIENTIST won the Nobel Prize in Economics (take that Tom Coburn). Dr. Ostrom received her Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA in 1965 and is the first woman to be awarded the prestigious prize.

According to Wikipedia, "she is considered one of the leading scholars in the study of common pool resources. In particular, Ostrom's work emphasizes how humans and ecosystems interact to provide for long run sustainable resource yields." From the NY Times:

Her work demonstrated “how common property can be successfully managed by user associations,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at a news conference on Monday in Stockholm. And Mr. Williamson has “developed a theory where business firms serve as structures for conflict resolution.

It was nice to see Political Science get some recognition. Congratulations, Dr. Ostrom!