Consultancy Capital Economics announced Thursday that one of its teams had won the prestigious 2012 Wolfson Economics Prize, an award second only to the Nobel Prize, for a study on the breakup of the eurozone.

The team, led by Roger Bootle, won the £250,000 prize for its essay answer to the question “If member states leave the Economic and Monetary Union, what is the best way for the economic process to be managed to provide the soundest foundation for the future growth and prosperity of the current membership?”

Capital Economics’ submission, titled “Leaving the euro: A practical guide,” was one of more than 400 entries submitted by various research companies, academic economists, and research teams of banks and other financial institutions.

The judges unanimously agreed that Capital Economics’ answer was the “most credible solution” to the question of how to orderly exit from the euro-zone.

The full essay explained that electronic payment methods and euros could be used until new notes and coins are introduced.

The exiting country could redenominate its debts into the new currency and announce a set of rules and a regime of inflation targeting.

The prize-winning team was made up of Bootle, managing director, Julian Jessop, chief global economist, Andrew Kenningham, senior global economist, Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist, Ben May, European economist, Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist, and Mark Pragnell, head of commissioned projects.

Capital Economics said its motivation for entering the competition was to contribute to the debate on how a euro-zone breakup could best be managed and to continue the quality of its research.

The company speculated in 2010 that the chances of some form of breakup had risen above 50 percent.
Bootle said that the praise his team’s submission received showed that the solution outlined in their essay could be done.

“I am absolutely delighted to win the Wolfson Prize,” he said. “It has been a team effort, and I would like to pay tribute to my colleagues at Capital Economics who collaborated with me. People may disagree on whether leaving the euro is a good thing, but the contribution of the Wolfson Prize has been to demonstrate that it can be done.”