With the recent announcement of Thomas Steitz’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry win, the world waits with bated breath for Monday’s announcement of the Nobel Prize for Economics — and many believe that Sterling Professor of Economics William Nordhaus is among the top contenders for the award.

“Marginal Revolutions,” an economics blog run by professors at George Mason University, conjectured that “One guess is William Nordhaus, for his concept of ‘green accounting.’ An environmental prize is overdue but perhaps Nordhaus is too skeptical about stringent anti-global warming measures to get the appropriate reception in Stockholm.”

But the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog took a slightly more tongue-in-cheek approach:

“Thomson Reuters, meantime, makes predictions on who will win the Bank of Sweden Prize in the Science of Holding Several Conflicting Opinions at Once in Memory of Alfred Nobel based on paper citations. Mr. Fehr, who’s written nine of the most cited economics papers in the past decade, leads that tally. Next is Berkeley’s Matthew Rabin, who’s made his mark in behavioral economics and finance. Just 45, Rabin would be young to earn the economics laureate. Yale’s William Nordhaus, best known for his work on environmental economics, follows.”

(10/09/09 3:17 p.m.) Correction: The “Marginal Revolution” blog post about Nordhaus’ chances for a Nobel Prize is from 2007, not this year. Though that makes us wonder, how much longer will this guy have to wait for his Nobel glory?