Congratulations to the 2026 John Bates Clark Medalist Ludwig Straub 

Awarded annually to an economist under the age of 40, the John Bates Clark Medal recognizes outstanding research accomplishments in economics. Please join the AEA Electoral College, consisting of the Association's Honors and Awards Committee and elected members of the Executive Committee, in congratulating Ludwig Straub of Harvard University. To find out more or to see a list of Clark Medal recipients, visit https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/bates-clark.

2026 AEA Distinguished Fellows 

The 2026 AEA Distinguished Fellows are Donald Andrews, N. Gregory Mankiw, Robert A. Margo, and Marjorie McElroy. The Distinguished Fellow award recognizes the lifetime contributions of four distinguished economists each year. A list of current and past Distinguished Fellows is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/distinguished-fellows.

2026 Foreign Honorary Members

The 2026 AEA Foreign Honorary Member is Jacques-François Thisse of the Catholic University of Louvain. This international honoree of distinction was elected by the Association's Executive Committee upon recommendation from the Honors and Awards Committee. A list of current Foreign Honorary Members is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/foreign-honorary-members.

American Economic Journal Best Paper Awards 

The annual American Economic Journal (AEJ) Best Paper Awards highlight the best paper published in each of the American Economic Journals: Applied Economics, Economic Policy, Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics over the last three years. Nominations are provided by AEA members, and winners are selected by each journals' Boards of Editors. Complimentary full-text articles are available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/aej-best-papers.

AEJ: Applied Economics: "Do Carbon Offsets Offset Carbon? by Raphael Calel, Jonathan Colmer, Antoine Dechezleprêtre, and Matthieu Glachant 17(1), (pp. 1–40) January 2025 

AEJ: Economic Policy: "Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply," by Colin Gray, Adam Leive, Elena Prager, Kelsey Pukelis, and Mary Zaki 15(1), (pp. 306–41) February 2023 

AEJ: Macroeconomics: "Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy with Distorting Taxes," by Christopher A. Sims† 17(2), (pp. 1–23) April 2025 

AEJ: Microeconomics: "The Fake News Effect: Experimentally Identifying Motivated Reasoning Using Trust in News," by Michael Thaler 16(2), (pp. 1–38) May 2024  

† Awarded posthumously