In this article, we will list the 20 Most Influential Economists in the World. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of the most influential economists, head to the 5 Most Influential Economists in the World.
The widely accepted rules of economics change frequently. Before the world war, we lived under the gold standard during which the value of our currency was determined by the gold reserves. However, today we live in a commodity-backed monetary system tied to the US dollar.
A few decades ago, debt was considered a bad thing. Today, large listed companies have debt on their balance sheet because it gives them financial leverage. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL)’s latest financial debt, as of March 2023, was $109.6 billion. The Foundation for Small Business Management even educates small businesses on how they can leverage through debt. Given the rising cost of housing, many people have turned to home mortgages. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Residential Mortgages debt in the US totaled $11.92 trillion in 2022.
The rapid changes in the rules of the game have made it challenging to study economics. However, to grasp all the changes happening today, it is essential to look at the works of the most famous economists in the world.
Adam Smith, Free-market, Capitalism, and Socialism
Adam Smith is considered one of the most influential economists. He is also known as the father of modern economics. Smith was a proponent of the free market economy and opposed any government intervention in the market. His book, the Wealth of Nations, contains many ideas that form the basis of classical economics. He emphasized the minimization of taxes and the role of governments.
Adam Smith proposed the idea of the ‘invisible hand,’ which balances out the forces of supply and demand in an economy. He also popularized the idea that when everyone works in their own best interest, society prospers. This formed the basis of capitalist thinking and the rise of capitalism.
The rise of capitalist thought and the industrial revolution brought sweeping economic and social change. The distribution of income became more unequal, and the exploitation of workers became a norm. As a response to this, socialism emerged. The writings of Karl Marx, another famous economist, became the basis of many socialist thinkers. Socialists believed in organizing based on cooperation rather than competition. While socialists are not dominant in the world, today, we see mixed economies where private and public partnership offers the best of both worlds.
Keynesian vs Monteraist
One of the most famous economists in history is John Maynard Keynes. His brand of economics is known as Keynesian economics, which argues that in a troubled economy, only the intervention of government can drive consumers to buy more goods and services. Monetary economists, on the other hand, believe that only the money supply should be controlled.
During times of crisis, the United States gravitates to monetarist measures. A recent example of monetarist measures taken by the US Federal Reserve can be seen during the time of the pandemic. In August 2020, the Federal Reserve bought $39.9 billion of mortgage bonds and sold $17.85 billion worth of mortgage bonds. Through a net purchase of mortgage bonds, the US Federal Reserve increased the money supply. This measure injected cash into the economy so that people keep spending. This measure was also taken to decrease interest rates and keep the stock market stable. The federal reserve sought remedies for the problems of the pandemic by controlling the money supply.
The value of economists in today’s world
It is clear by now that the works of famous economists, although sometimes controversial, have shaped the world. Their ideas have helped many nations fight financial crises. The analytical and philosophical approach of economists is valuable to businesses too. Even Tech companies hire economists.
Companies such as Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) are known to hire people with Ph.D. in economics. According to Glassdoor, on average, Economists make yearly $233,365 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), and $174,000 in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). While companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) are among the largest tech companies, they are not the only ones that hire economists. The entire tech sector hires economists that deal with microeconomic issues such as pricing to corporate strategies. Economists are also hired by governments. They help formulate public policies by assembling and analyzing data.
We used a consensus approach using four (1,2,3,4) sources to curate our list of the 20 Most Influential Economists in the World. We gave each source weightage according to their credibility. The source with the highest authority was given 40%, the second highest authority-source was given 30%, the third highest authority was given 20%, and the least authoritative source was given 10% weightage.
We selected economists that appeared most frequently on our sources discussing them. The maximum score each economist could get was 1. As tie-breakers, we used the ranking of economists in our sources.
Here's the list of the most influential economists in the world.
20 - Paul Krugman
Insider Monkey Score - 0.1
Born in February 28, 1953, in Albany, Paul Krugman received Nobel Prize in 2008 for his work in Economic Geography. He was an economist and a journalist who was awarded a Ph.D. degree from MIT. He also served in US President Ronald Regan’s Council of Economic Advisors. Krugman is known for integrating economies of scale into general equilibrium models, which helps understand why a variety in consumers' choice help achieve economies of scale.
19 - Joseph Stiglitz
Insider Monkey Score - 0.1
Joseph Stiglitz won Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. His works lay the foundation of the Theory of Markets with Asymmetric Information. Stiglitz served as a member of US President Bill Clinton’s economic policy team from 1993 to 1997, and in June 1995, he became the chairman. He also served as a vice president of the world bank from 1997 to 2000.
18 - John Stuart Mill
Insider Monkey Score - 0.1
John Stuart Mill was a 19th-century British philosopher and economist. Stuart was a supporter of Liberal Utilitarianism and believed that actions that lead to human happiness are right. Mill combined economics with philosophy and advocated individual rights and progressive social policies. He also served as a member of parliament and worked for the East India Company.
17 - Dambisa Moyo
Insider Monkey Score - 0.2
If you want to learn about the creation of wealth, and the relationship between impoverished states, developing nations, and wealthy nations, Dambisa Moyo’s work will enlighten you. She is a Zambian economist and writer who has spent a major part of her childhood in the United States. She has also worked as an advisor on issuing bonds for the international market for Goldman Sachs.
16 - Elinor Ostrom
Insider Monkey Score - 0.2
Elinor Ostrom was a contemporary American Political Scientist who is also known for her work in the field of economics. She has done considerable work in the area of Economic Governance, for which she also won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2011.
15 - W. Arthur Lewis
Insider Monkey Score - 0.2
Arthur Lewis was a Saint Lucian economist who won the 1979 Nobel Prize for Economics. He is known for proposing an innovative model regarding the trade terms between less developed and developed countries. Lewis attended the London School of Economics on a scholarship, where he later taught for nine years.
14 - Millicent Fawcett
Insider Monkey Score - 0.2
Born in 1847, Millicent Garret Fawcet was an English political reformer and economist. Fawcet was an enthusiast of Stuart Mill. She is known for her book, ‘Political Economy for Beginners’ which was brief but became successful at the time.
13 - Janet Yellen
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Janet Yellen is an American Economist who has served as the chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She has also served as the Secretary of the US Department of Treasury. She is known for her book ‘ The Fabulous Decade,’ which focuses on Macro Economic teachings.
12 - Hernando de Soto
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Hernando De Soto is a Peruvian economist who is known for his work on the informal economy. Much of Soto’s work is dedicated to the developing world, and he currently presides over the Institute of Liberty and Democracy, a think tank dedicated to promoting economic development in developing countries.
11 - Nouriel Roubini
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Nouriel Roubini is a Turkish-born American economist. He is known for predicting the 2007- 2008 mortgage crisis in the United States. Roubini taught Economics at Yale University from 1988 to 1995 and served as a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund.
10 - Amartya Sen
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Coming in at number 10 in our list of the 20 Most Influential Economists in the World, Amartya Sen is an Indian economist who won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is known for his work on Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory. Sen is also famous for his work on the causes of famine, which led to practical solutions to avoid shortages of food.
9 - Paul Samuelson
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Paul Samuelson was an American economist who wrote a college textbook titled 'Economics: an introductory Analysis,' which was published in 1948. He raised the level of scientific analysis in economics, for which he has received several accolades. Samuelson was known for combining neo-classical microeconomics and neo-Keynesian microeconomics.
8 - Karl Marx
Insider Monkey Score - 0.4
Karl Marx is one of the most influential Economists to live. He is known for his book ‘Das Kapital,’ in which he described the self-destructive tendencies of capitalism. Marx was a proponent of communist and socialist policies. Although, Marxian Economics has been widely rejected, his critique of capitalism stays relevant to this date. Marx has had a profound effect on the way the political economy of the world is shaped today.
7 - Abhijit Banerjee
Insider Monkey Score - 0.5
Abhijeet Banerjee is an Indian-born American economist known for his groundbreaking work on development economics research. He is also the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT.
6 - David Ricardo
Insider Monkey Score - 0.5
Our 6th most influential economist is David Ricardo. He was an 18th-century - classical economist and politician, known for developing comparative advantage economic theory. Ricardo is also known for his contributions to mainstream economic theories, such as the law of diminishing returns, and the labor theory of value.
