Two US researchers won the 2011 Nobel Economics Prize yesterday for research on how different events affect economies and which could help find answers to the current crisis, the Nobel jury said.

Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims, both 68, have developed methods that untangle “the causal relationship between economic policy and different macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, inflation, employment and investments,” the Nobel jury said.

“Their combined work constitutes a solid foundation for modern macroeconomic analysis. It is hard to envisage today’s research without this foundation,” it added.

Economies are constantly affected by both anticipated events, like long-term fiscal policy and shifts in monetary policies, and unanticipated events like sudden hikes in the price of oil or an unexpected drop in household consumption.

The laureates’ work, carried out in the 1970s and 80s, provides methodologies that facilitate understanding of how both systemic policy shifts and so-called “shocks” affect the macroeconomy in the short and long run.