Claudia Goldin’s speech at the Nobel Prize banquet, 10 December 2023.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellences, Dear laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Other Distinguished Guests:

When the phone rang at 4:30 am and I was told I had 90 minutes to prepare for a press conference, I flung into action. “Larry: Take Pika out.”

Even on four hours of sleep, I thought I could do it. At 6 am when the award was announced and my phone began to buzz and my email box filled, I soon realized that I would need super-powers.

When I finally managed to work through the email pile of 1,600 messages  – I discovered something amazing. It wasn’t only my Nobel that had been announced October 9 at 6 am.

I had received hundreds of notes of gee and jubilation, tearful notes of joy, others with personal stories, and hundreds more about how meaningful the award was for all women. One woman thanked me “from the mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters around the world, that’s a lot of people, validating what we know to be true.

The award gave people pride in their work and in who they are, it emboldened those doing research on women and on gender, and it gave recognition to economic historians everywhere. An economist in Spain wrote that he was among the many “who felt … vindicated … as if [his] sports team had won an all-time world competition.” I wasn’t just awarded a Nobel. I had won the World Cup!

And through these hundreds of gleeful, joyful, jubilant messages, I gained my super-powers.

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