Ludwig Elder von Mises

Ludwig Elder von Mises, the eminence of the “Austrian School” of economics, may be best known for his part in a debate that raged during the early part of the 20th Century about the possibility of successful economic coordination under socialism. Mises argued forcefully that state ownership of the means of production makes the best assignment

Abba P. Lerner

Abba P. Lerner (1903-1982) was born in Russia, raised on the London East End and worked as a machinist, a capmaker, a Hebrew teacher, a Rabbinical student and tried his hand at business before enrolling in 1929 at the London School of Economics. It was his early association with the plethora of socialist movements prevalent

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Adam Smith (1723-1790)

Ideas – Nature provide a basis in sentiment for virtue. – When we adopt the role of impartial spectators, sympathy is the sentiment that is the basis for moral judgments. – Acting from a sense of duty corrects for any lack of appropriate sentiment in particular instances. – The deity has implanted powerful instincts (passions),

Alfred Marshall (1842-1924)

Alfred Marshall was born in Bermondsey, a London suburb, on 26 July 1842. He died at Balliol Croft, his Cambridge home of many years, on 13 July 1924 at the age of 81. Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge from 1885 to 1908, he was the founder of the Cambridge School of

Alvin Hansen (1887-1975)

Alvin Harvey Hansen (August 23, 1887 – June 6, 1975), often referred to as “the American Keynes”, was a professor of economics at Harvard, a widely read author on current economic issues, and an influential advisor to the government who helped create the Council of Economic Advisors and the Social Security system. He is best

Andre Gunder Frank (1929-2005)

Andre Gunder Frank was born in Berlin on February 24, 1929. He was an economics professor and theorist and one of the founders of the ‘Dependence theory’, developed in the sixties. In his more recent work he focussed his attention on the analysis of the crisis in world economy and then also on global world

Antoine Augustin Cournot (1801-1877)

French philosopher, mathematician and economist, Antoine Augustin Cournot has been rightly hailed as one of the greatest of the Proto-Marginalists. The unique insights of his major economics work, Researches into the Mathematical Principles of Wealth (1838) were without parallel. Although neglected in his time, the impact of Cournot’s work on modern economics can hardly be

Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877-1959)

Arthur Cecil Pigou (/ˈpiːɡuː/; 18 November 1877 – 7 March 1959) was an English economist. As a teacher and builder of the School of Economics at the University of Cambridge, he trained and influenced many Cambridge economists who went on to take chairs of economics around the world. His work covered various fields of economics,

Arthur B. Laffer (1941- )

Arthur Laffer received a B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1963. He received a MBA and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1971 respectively. Arthur Laffer’s economic acumen and influence in triggering a world-wide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s have earned him the distinction in many publications as ‘The Father

Arthur M. Okun (1928-1980)

Arthur Okun is known mainly for Okun’s Law, which describes a linear relation between percentage changes in unemployment and percent changes in gross national product. It states that for every percentage point that the unemployment rate falls, real GNP rises by 3 percent. Okun’s Law was based on data from World War II to 1960.

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Bertil G. Ohlin (1899-1979)

Bertil Gotthard Ohlin (Swedish: [ˈbæ̌ʈːɪl ʊˈliːn]) (23 April 1899 – 3 August 1979) was a Swedish economist and politician. He was a professor of economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1929 to 1965. He was also leader of the People’s Party, a social-liberal party which at the time was the largest party in

Daniel Bernoulli

Daniel Bernoulli was the son of Johann Bernoulli. He was born in Groningen while his father held the chair of mathematics there. His older brother was Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli and his uncle was Jacob Bernoulli so he was born into a family of leading mathematicians but also into a family where there was unfortunate rivalry,

David Ricardo

The brilliant British economist David Ricardo was one the most important figures in the development of economic theory. He articulated and rigorously formulated the ‘classical’ system of political economy. The legacy of Ricardo dominated economic thinking throughout the 19th Century. David Ricardo’s family was descended from Iberian Jews who had fled to Holland during a

Edmund Burke

Irish social and political philosopher and statesman. Although reared in the Enlightenment era, Burke was a severe critic of rationalist theories of natural law and social contract. Like David Hume, Edmund Burke believed that political and social organization evolved organically over history from a variety of political, cultural and social circumstances. In Burke’s view, current society is a robust

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Edward Chamberlin

Edward Chamberlin taught economics at Harvard (1937-1967) and made significant contributions to microeconomics, particularly on competition theory and consumer choice, and their connection to prices. One of the most influential economists of his time, Edward Chamberlin coined the term “product differentiation” to describe how a supplier may be able to charge a greater amount for

Eli F. Heckscher

Student of David Davidson at Uppsala and subsequently a docent under Cassel at Stockholm, Eli Heckscher nonetheless abandoned his mentors to blaze his own path in economic history and the history of economic thought. Incomparably prolific, Eli Heckscher’s bibliography boasts of over a thousand publications His most famous contribution to economics, his 1919 article which

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Erik Lindahl (1891-1960)

Probably the most theoretically rigorous member of the Stockholm School, Erik Lindahl was the only member of that group who stayed wholly within academia. Although he obtained his degree at Lund and was highly influenced by Knut Wicksell, he was not Wicksell’s student. Lindahl’s contributions to economic theory extend beyond his Wicksellian roots to embrace much

Ernst Engel (1821-1896)

German statistician, the head of the Prussian Statistical Bureau (1860-1882), known for the “Engel curve,” or Engel’s law, which states that the proportion of expenditure on food will fall as income rises, i.e. food is a necessary good. Engel’s law applies to goods as a whole. Demand for food, clothing and shelter – and for most

Eugen Slutsky

Eugen Slutsky (a.k.a. Eugene Slutsky and Yevgeni Slutsky) intended to become a mathematician, but he was expelled from the University of Kiev for participating in student revolts and, after some wandering through engineering and Europe, he returned to Kiev and ended up getting a doctorate in law in the end and then heading to teach

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Evsey Domar

A Russian-born, Manchurian-raised, MIT economist, Evsey Domar has made contributions in three main areas of economics: economic growth, comparative economics and economic history. His work on economic growth began with his 1944 model on government debt, which considered how economic growth can lighten the burden of the government debt. His major claim to fame, however,