The 10 Greatest Economists of all time in no order

[Saint Milei]

Adam Smith
Karl Marx
John Maynard Keynes
Milton Friedman
Frederick Hayek
Jean-Baptiste Say
Carl Menger
Joseph Schumpeter
Paul Samuelson
Ludwig Von Mises

Honorable Mentions:
David Ricardo
Thomas Malthus
The econometrics guy

[136or142]

Hayek is a joke and, in addition to being a vile 'person' was wrong on pretty much everything.

Arthur Pigou is far more significant.

[136or142]

Christina Romer would be one of the major modern economists.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

[ag]

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

[ag]

Adam Smith
Karl Marx
John Maynard Keynes
Milton Friedman
Frederick Hayek
Jean-Baptiste Say
Carl Menger
Joseph Schumpeter
Paul Samuelson
Ludwig Von Mises

Honorable Mentions:
David Ricardo
Thomas Malthus
The econometrics guy

Hm. Have you already turned 130, or are you only in your 120s?

"The econometrics guy" could describe quite a few very different people

[politicus]

ag, what would be your Top 10 of economists with (the bulk of) their career post-WW2?

[Oakvale]

No Hicks?

I would have assumed an Atlas poster might have included Coase or Arrow or someone but you've clearly taken a classic internet libertarian route in making this list.

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Hayek was absolutely an "actual" economist. It's not (entirely!) his fault he's been attached to a bizarre ideological movement based around some of his more archaic ideas.

[traininthedistance]

No Hicks?

I would have assumed an Atlas poster might have included Coase or Arrow or someone but you've clearly taken a classic internet libertarian route in making this list.

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Hayek was absolutely an "actual" economist. It's not (entirely!) his fault he's been attached to a bizarre ideological movement based around some of his more archaic ideas.

Problem with Coase is that his theorem, while elegant in the hyper-simplified Flatland of Micro 101, has zero application in the real world due to transaction costs and power differentials mucking things up.  And yet, plenty of folks (especially those conveniently on the "right" side of those differentials) will use it as an excuse to avoid being held accountable for their actions.  So he's had a pretty pernicious effect all in all.

As for Hayek, I'm sure you've seen that quote of his where he basically advocates for a command-and-control approach to fighting pollution; I can't be too harsh on him knowing that (and, also, knowing that his real target was Stalinism rather than western-style social democracy).  Though using that line to defend Hayek is kinda like saying "Nixon signed the EPA into law!", so take as you will.

...

Pigou, of course, is the best.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No Hicks?

I would have assumed an Atlas poster might have included Coase or Arrow or someone but you've clearly taken a classic internet libertarian route in making this list.

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Hayek was absolutely an "actual" economist. It's not (entirely!) his fault he's been attached to a bizarre ideological movement based around some of his more archaic ideas.

Nobody forced him to write The Road to Serfdom, as far as I know.

[Oakvale]

No Hicks?

I would have assumed an Atlas poster might have included Coase or Arrow or someone but you've clearly taken a classic internet libertarian route in making this list.

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Hayek was absolutely an "actual" economist. It's not (entirely!) his fault he's been attached to a bizarre ideological movement based around some of his more archaic ideas.

Problem with Coase is that his theorem, while elegant in the hyper-simplified Flatland of Micro 101, has zero application in the real world due to transaction costs and power differentials mucking things up.  And yet, plenty of folks (especially those conveniently on the "right" side of those differentials) will use it as an excuse to avoid being held accountable for their actions.  So he's had a pretty pernicious effect all in all.

As for Hayek, I'm sure you've seen that quote of his where he basically advocates for a command-and-control approach to fighting pollution; I can't be too harsh on him knowing that (and, also, knowing that his real target was Stalinism rather than western-style social democracy).  Though using that line to defend Hayek is kinda like saying "Nixon signed the EPA into law!", so take as you will.

...

Pigou, of course, is the best.

God forbid I ever partake in such a list, my point was merely that those are some of the names I'd expect on your average GREATEST ECONOMISTS EVER list compiled by a poster on here. Maybe Piketty if it was one of our infant Marxists.

No Hicks?

I would have assumed an Atlas poster might have included Coase or Arrow or someone but you've clearly taken a classic internet libertarian route in making this list.

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Hayek was absolutely an "actual" economist. It's not (entirely!) his fault he's been attached to a bizarre ideological movement based around some of his more archaic ideas.

Nobody forced him to write The Road to Serfdom, as far as I know.

No, but I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. An economist's writings for popular consumption shouldn't have an effect on their standing as economists - otherwise you're going to have to start dismissing Friedman, too, let alone people like Krugman. ...Serfdom is still an order of magnitude a more substantial popular work than most of his latter day acolytes have produced.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Fair enough, but let's face it, the reasons the right considers him a great economist have little to do with his serious economic research, and everything to do with his hackish rants against the inherent evil of redistribution.

[Deus Naturae]

Fair enough, but let's face it, the reasons the right considers him a great economist have little to do with his serious economic research, and everything to do with his hackish rants against the inherent evil of redistribution.

Few famous economists are known for their "serious research." Most (including Marx and Keynes) are known for their ideas and theories.

Also, it's odd that you bring up redistribution since he supported a limited welfare state. His "rants" (which I'm skeptical that you've actually read) targeted the idea of central planning, not redistribution. I feel like you're confusing him with Mises.

[AggregateDemand]

Adam Smith
Karl Marx
John Maynard Keynes
Milton Friedman
Frederick Hayek
Jean-Baptiste Say
Carl Menger
Joseph Schumpeter
Paul Samuelson
Ludwig Von Mises

Honorable Mentions:
David Ricardo
Thomas Malthus
The econometrics guy

Ricardo is an honorable mention? Without comparative advantage, the unwinding of mercantile monarchies would have taken another century.

[Foucaulf]

Here's my list, for what it's worth, of the 20th Century's 10 greatest economists:

Macro: Keynes, Friedman, Robert Lucas.
Micro: Kenneth Arrow, Armen Alchian, Leonid Hurwicz.
Applied Theory: Samuelson, Gary Becker.
Econometrics: Trygve Haavelmo, James Heckman.

I'm tempted to put people like Andrei Shleifer, Daron Acemoglu or Guido Imbens on here, but let's say their impact belongs more in the 21st.

[AggregateDemand]

Fair enough, but let's face it, the reasons the right considers him a great economist have little to do with his serious economic research, and everything to do with his hackish rants against the inherent evil of redistribution.

The Austrian School is generally opposed to econometric research because of modeling error, but also because few Austrians prefer econometric research. Economics is a behavioral field. Austrians tend to look inside of themselves to better understand human behavior.

The right likes Austrians because neoliberals taught conservatives that Austrians were anti-Keynesian.

[AggregateDemand]

I'd say:

Adam Smith
David Ricardo
Friedrich Hayek
Ludwig von Mises
John Maynard Keynes
Milton Friedman
Vilfredo Pareto
Arthur Pigou
John Hicks
Alfred Marshall

[136or142]

Yeah, Hayek was not an actual economist. Political theorist/philosopher is a more accurate description.

Pretty sure Ricardo deserves a spot in the top 10.

Hayek is a respected figure in the economics profession. Von Mises, of those on this list, would be more of a problem. Along with Marx, he shares the dubious distinction of starting a religious cult. But, at least, Marxism has been influential.

Who respects Hayek?

[King]

Applied Theory: Samuelson, Gary Becker.

Gary Becker is an underrated favorite of mine. I wrote a too-long thesis on him.

I actually agree with AD's list, though I would also leave room for Malthus.

[136or142]

No, but I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. An economist's writings for popular consumption shouldn't have an effect on their standing as economists - otherwise you're going to have to start dismissing Friedman, too, let alone people like Krugman. ...Serfdom is still an order of magnitude a more substantial popular work than most of his latter day acolytes have produced.


1.Only among halfwits.

2.I believe Hayeks' contemporary Keynes books have sold significantly more than Hayek's 'books'.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Amartya Sen
John Maynard Keynes
Robert Solow
Paul Samuelson
Milton Friedman
Gary Becker
Hyman Minsky
Kenneth Arrow
Thomas Piketty
Elinor Ostrom

I think Samuelson has had the greatest impact on the vocational practice of economics.

I didn't include any 19th century economists because economics wasn't really a discipline (it was "political economy") in the same sense that it's a discipline today. Contributing to the foundation of economics does not make you an economist.

I'd also like to add that the economists of our time are terrible public intellectuals. Piketty and Krugman are mere spergs compared to Friedman and Galbraith. All of the mathematical training must dulling the wit and charm of economists...

[136or142]

To suggest that Hayek is respected by anybody other than extreme right wing halfwits is foolish.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Say what you will about Hayek but at least he wrote an influential book that could be described as political theory. Ludwig Von Mises on the other hand...

[ag]

ag, what would be your Top 10 of economists with (the bulk of) their career post-WW2?

Well, this would, necessarily, be subjective and will betray my field biases. And economics is too big to put it all into 10 names.  But, I guess, no list would be alive without Ken Arrow (and Debreu and McKenzie ) - but, of course, Arrow has to be there). Von Neumann was not an economist, but how can we ever forget Oscar Morgenstern (the REAL Austrian ). Maskin/Myerson and Hurwicz got the Nobel for a very solid reason.  So did Aumann. Lucas and Sargent in Macro, I guess. Do not know much about metrics, but how can one miss McFadden?

 

[ag]

Fair enough, but let's face it, the reasons the right considers him a great economist have little to do with his serious economic research, and everything to do with his hackish rants against the inherent evil of redistribution.

The Austrian School is generally opposed to econometric research because of modeling error, but also because few Austrians prefer econometric research. Economics is a behavioral field. Austrians tend to look inside of themselves to better understand human behavior.

The right likes Austrians because neoliberals taught conservatives that Austrians were anti-Keynesian.

I hope you realize that the manner in which you use the words "econometric research" has not been current for well over 50 years now. Would you mind, actually, using the language at least some people alive now could understand?