Betting on the Peace Prize

Next week is the big week for Nobel Peace Prize candidates, as the announcement is going to be made on Friday 9th at 1100. Today, I gave a breakfast talk to the members of the Foreign Press Association, Norway, presenting my speculations. Most of them had read my web-postings before, but were very eager to discuss the impact of Torbjørn Jagland’s appointment at the Council of Europe and other matters of principle. While some were critical that none of my suggested candidates are exactly world famous, others had their personal favorites from their own corners of the world, most of whom I had to admit never having heard of. It was a relief, then, to learn that Paddy Power, the bookmaker, has his bets resembling mine, with the same three candidates on top (although in a slightly different order). In other words, if you want to place money on Nobel betting, do not follow your director’s speculations, since he has contributed to such lousy odds on several top candidates.