On Tuesday (Dec. 10), we will see television and newspaper coverage of the 2013 Nobel Prize awards ceremony. The grandeur of the ceremony and the felicitous faces of the prize winners, with sincere comments offered about their various professional research fields, again are apt to positively influence youths who have dreams and ambitions while providing a tinge of hope to tired adults.

Apart from the harmless affection shown toward the prize winners, some may view the number of Nobel Prize winners for evidence of national power as if they were counting Olympic Games gold medals.

In the field of economics, the list shows that 59 of the 74 Nobel prize-winners in economics — about 80 percent — are from the United States. The next majority is from the United Kingdom, with just four scholars. Most other nations count one or no winners. Therefore Japan should not feel ashamed of there being no Japanese scholars on the list. Still, academic authorities in Japan, such as the Science Council of Japan, that feel slighted might put economics teachers at Japanese universities under more pressure to organize this discipline and its education by following America's direction. The problem goes beyond nationalistic pride.