In a year of almost non-stop hurricanes, cyclones, forest fires, floods, heatwaves and other environmental mayhem, it is especially fitting that one of the winners of the 50th Nobel Prize in economics is Professor William Nordhaus of Yale University, who has dedicated his career to grappling with the economic aspects of climate change.

And at a time when technology increasingly pervades our lives and innovation, disruption and the "knowledge economy" have become buzzwords, equally deserving is the other winner of this year's Nobel, Professor Paul Romer of New York University, who has illuminated the link between ideas and economic growth.