He shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics with rival Gunnar Myrdal . The award was for their work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their analysis of the dependence of economic , social and institutional phenomena . In 1974 Hayek shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics ( with Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal ) for his `` pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and ( his ) penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic , social and institutional phenomena . ''