The awarding of the Swedish Riksbank’s Prize for Economic Sciences has rarely triggered such a critical discussion as this year. While the prize committee recognizes the achievements of Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims in the field of empirical macroeconomics, critics see them as mainstream-theorists who preach policy ineffectiveness and believe in efficient markets. In their opinion, the award is highly problematic, especially given the financial crisis of recent years. Did the prize committee actually make a mistake or is the criticism ultimately unjustified?