Nobel Foundation reduces prize amount

New York Times : Perhaps reflecting the current difficult global economy, the Nobel Foundation announced yesterday that it was reducing the cash awarded for its prestigious academic, literary, and humanitarian prizes from about $1.4 million to $1.1 million. Because of poor returns on invested capital, the foundation found the cuts necessary to ensure that the approximately $400 million endowment remains at a high level over the long term. Although this is not the first time the prize’s face value has been reduced, the last time it happened was more than a half century ago, in 1949.