Yasheng Huang discussed why China's model for economic development holds appeal for countries looking for an alternative to the Washington model.

"Our research shows that democracies achieve faster economic growth than do autocratic regimes, and they do so by investing in people."

"Globalization and offshoring of advanced industrial capacity has made ensuring a nation's security and prosperity increasingly problematic."

"Once in a while, technology comes along that is so powerful and so broadly applicable it accelerates the normal march of economic progress."

"Russia has huge amounts of natural gas and coal, so there's no real economic incentive for them to develop wind."

“We had to do a lot of work to convince people institutions actually mattered in a really big way.”

"Ideas are important in terms of giving people levers or giving people ways to think about the problems in their society."

Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson are honored for their work on how institutions form and affect differences in prosperity.

"Democracy needs to work harder. Many people feel like they don’t have a voice — and that’s not what democracy promises."

This year's economics Nobel went to a trio of researchers whose work focuses on the importance of strong institutions for an economy.