The two scholars who has won the 2011 Nobel economic prize

They had studied how economic policy, such as raising interest rates or cutting taxes, affects macroeconomic variables such as GDP and inflation.

The award's official name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

It was not part of the original group of awards set out in Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, but was established by Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, in 1968.

The five main prizes are in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

'Essential methods'

Thomas Sargent, 68, is a professor of economics at New York University.

The academy pointed to his work examining the post-World War II era, when many countries initially tended to implement£¨ÊµÊ©£¬Âäʵ£© a high-inflation policy, but eventually introduced systematic changes in economic policy and reverted to a lower inflation rate.

Christopher Sims, also 68, is a professor of economics and banking at Princeton University.

The academy said he had developed a method based on "vector£¨Ê¸Á¿£© autoregression" to analyse how the economy is affected by temporary changes in economic policy and other factors - for instance, the effects of an increase in the interest rate set by a central bank.

Prof Sims said: "I think that the methods that I have used and that Tom has developed are essential to finding our way out of this mess."

Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides won the 2010 prize for their work on how regulation and policy affects jobs and wages.




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The gates foundation to help India against AIDS
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The Avahan project was launched in 2003 in six states which had the highest rate of HIV in India at the time.
The aim was to invest in HIV prevention by targeting high-risk groups such as sex workers and truck drivers.

The Lancet study said it showed such an investment can reduce HIV prevalence.

Safe-sex counselling

The initial findings of the study had some data limitations, AFP reports, but the study's authors make it clear that investing in prevention can have a positive impact.

"The results of our analysis suggest that Avahan had a beneficial effect in reducing HIV prevalence at the population level over five years of programme implementation£¨ÊµÏÖ£¬ÂÄÐУ© in some of the states," the assessment said.

It said that the findings supported investment in well-managed HIV prevention programmes in low and middle-income countries.

The $258m (£164m) Avahan project was based in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland.

It targeted high-risk groups such as sex workers, injecting drug users and truck drivers with tactics such as safe-sex counselling, free condoms, exchanging used needles for sterilised ones and through campaigning and advocacy£¨Ö÷ÕÅ£¬Óµ»¤£© .

It found that the campaign was most effective in the districts that got the most resources but it also had a greater impact in the highly-populated southern Indian states.

Indian authorities say the number of annual new HIV infections has declined by more than 50% during the past decade.

India also runs government Aids control schemes, many done in partnership with international donors.

There was some criticism of the Avahan project when it was launched for being poor value for money, AFP reports, but the study disputes this assertion£¨¶ÏÑÔ£¬ÉùÃ÷£© .

The authors of the study were funded by the Gates Foundation, but as a peer-reviewed journal material for publication is examined by outside experts.