Cyprus’ highest award to Nobel Prize Winner

Cyprus might be a small country and its honorary excellences might not be internationally known, but it is my country and the honour is extremely important for me, Nobel Prize Winner Christoforos Pissarides said accepting tonight the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III, Cyprus’ highest award.

President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias, Members of the Cabinet and other officials, MPs, Presidents of Political Parties, Ambassadors and many distinguish guests honoured Professor Pissarides with their presence at the event which took place at a local hotel.

Professor Pissarides spoke of his childhood and his studies in London, saying that he always wanted to return and work here.

He also referred to his academic work and his research in the field of unemployment, which granted him with the Nobel Prize in Economy last October.

“My goal as well as that of my fellow colleagues was to learn how to live with unemployment , however we did not want unemployment to lead to miserable lives for the most and a wealthy life for the few”, Nobel Winner said.

He also spoke about some of the policies governments could implement in order to fight unemployment, such as giving incentives to the unemployed and motivating them to search for a new job. He also referred to the role of the trade unions.

Professor Pissarides was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics last October jointly with Peter A. Diamond and Dale Mortensen, for his contribution to the theory of search frictions and macroeconomics.