Nobel Prize Winners 2011 (PHOTOS)

Americans Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims won this year's Nobel Prize for Economics, the Nobel Committee announced on Monday in Oslo.

Sargent and Sims independently studied the relationship between the economy and policy instruments, and have developed what the Nobel Committee describes as "essential tools in macroeconomic analysis."

"It is not an exaggeration to say that both Sargent's and Sims' methods are used daily ... in all central banks that I know of in the developed world and at several finance departments too," Nobel committee member Torsten Persson told the Associated Press.

Last week, the Nobel Committee also announced the winners of the award in medicine, literature, chemistry, and physics, as well as the three winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Take a look below at the full list of this year's Nobel laureates. The winners will receive their awards during ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm on December 10th.