American economists Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford won a big prize.

It is the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics.

They won it on Monday.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences gave the award.

The group announced it in Stockholm.

The committee said their work built a base.

The base helps us understand consumers.

Consumers decide to save or spend.

This helps leaders steady economies.

Economies move up and down.

Hall is 83 years old.

He works with Stanford University.

Woodford was born in 1955.

He works with Columbia University.

Both men said the award was a surprise.

Hall said he spent his career on one question.

He wanted to know how the economy works.

For many years, governments followed old ideas.

These ideas came from John Maynard Keynes.

He was a British economist.

His ideas came from the Depression.

Governments cut interest rates and taxes.

They raised spending to restart growth.

But the 1970s brought stagflation.

Prices were high and jobs were few.

This showed the old formula was too simple.

Hall and Woodford made the Keynesian model better.

They studied how families and businesses really decide.

Hall found something about spending.

Consumer spending depends on future income.

People expect money later.

It is very hard to predict this.

He also found something about families.

About 80% of households spent based on future hopes.

The rest lived hand to mouth.

Woodford found something about businesses.

Businesses set prices based on future interest rates.

He said central banks should talk clearly.

They should explain their plans.

They should raise interest rates too.

This stops prices from rising too fast.

It helps after supply shocks.