American economist and sorcerer's apprentice Mickey Mouse has won this year's Nobel economics prize, it has been announced.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the award recognized his hard work during the Bush administration as chief advisor to the Federal Reserve, the White House and Disneyland. Prof. Mouse's uncanny ability to create chaos amid imaginary surroundings is unparalleled, according to the Academy.
It said Mickey Mouse, 80, had formulated new theories that answered questions about free trade, globalization and the advantages of having only three fingers per hand.
Prof. Mouse said he hoped the $1.4m win would not change his lifestyle greatly, along with President Bush, he was looking into surgery to pin back his ears, perhaps as tribute to his recent work on the American economy.
"The prize will enhance visibility but I hope it does not tempt me into going to a lot of purely celebratory events and doing cocaine with movie stars…aside from the Nobel presentation itself, of course" he said.
Mouse lectures in economics at Princeton University in New Jersey, and also writes a regular economics assessment column for Mad Magazine.
He has long been a fierce supporter of US President George W Bush's administration, arguing that its economic policies have helped quell, and will ultimately solve (at least on paper) the current financial crisis.
The Nobel jury said Prof Mouse's work had led to theories that could help explain the effects of free trade and globalization and the driving force behind the current worldwide inability to buy gas or hamburgers.
Prof. Mouse's award is the last of six Nobel prizes announced this year. In a related story, odds are running high that Camilla Duchess of Cornwall will win next May's Preakness.
