100 Key Scholars in the Field of Economics

100 key scholars in the field of economics

"Whether for individuals or for society, in modern industrial society, the real factor that drives production is a concept, or what some prefer to call 'global vision.' It is a holistic concept, a global grasp of the complete pattern." — Peter Drucker

Having a global perspective is like having a universal map in an unfamiliar space.

You can see the whole picture, as well as its logic, order, and purpose, so that your mind is no longer confused, disorderly, and mysterious.

The following is a list of 100 key figures in the field of economics.

Please note that this article is best read in conjunction with 248 other key works.

Because they are not independent individuals, nor are they boring strings of words.

They are lively and vibrant.

They have their own social networks. They influence each other in ways we cannot see.

For example, you will find that Quesnay's "Economic Table" not only influenced Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," but also influenced Marx's "Capital."

For example, you will find that Adam Smith's lifelong friend, David Hume, was friends with Daniel Malthus and also with the elder Malthus. The younger Malthus was constantly shaped by their exchanges and intellectual collisions, eventually becoming a master economist of his generation.

For example, you will also find that the absorption, disputes, and criticism between schools of thought shape new schools of thought. It is precisely because of this that economics has been able to advance and develop.

The relationships between these characters, the connections between works, and the reconstruction of schools of thought have shaped the vitality and liveliness behind the words, allowing us to see the passing down of the torch from generation to generation.

This article is dedicated to paying tribute to the brilliant stars in human history.

01 Key figures in the past

... (Dedicated to unknown predecessors)

1.\Socrates\ (469 BC – 399 BC), an ancient Greek philosopher, was a student of Xenophon, whose economic ideas were derived from his teacher;

2.\Xenophon\ (440–355 BC), an ancient Greek philosopher and historian, was the first to use the term "economy." In \The Education of Cyrus\, he proposed the concepts of division of labor and specialization, and in \The Revenue of Athens\, he studied issues related to income.

3.\Plato\ (427 BC–347 BC) was an ancient Greek idealist philosopher and student of Socrates. In his work \The Republic\, he proposed the division of labor and the theory of three classes.

4.\Aristotle\ (384 BC–322 BC) pointed out the value and scarcity of commodities, as well as the value storage function of money.

5.\Marcus Porcius Cato\ (234 BC–149 BC), an ancient Roman politician and slave owner who advocated for farm management and slave administration;

6.\Marcus Terentius Varro\ (Varro, 116–27 BCE), a Roman statesman and renowned scholar who introduced the concept of cost-benefit analysis into agriculture;

7.\Aurelius Augustinus\ (345–430), a Roman philosopher, was the first to propose the concept of "fair price," and his theological ideas also form the foundation of Christian doctrine;

8.\Saint Thomas Aquinas\ (1225–1274), theologian and culminating figure of the Scholastic school, developed the concept of fair price and seamlessly integrated Christian theology with Aristotle's philosophy;

9.\Thomas Mun\ (1571-1641), a representative of late mercantilism in England, expounded the principles of the trade surplus theory and summarized the trade balance theory.

10.\Antoine Montchretien\ (1575-1621), an early representative of mercantilism in France, was the first to use the term "political economy."

11.\Jean-Baptiste Colbert\ (1619-1683), a representative figure of late mercantilism in France, believed that gold and silver were important national treasures and advocated restricting their outflow from the country.

12.\William Petty\ (1623-1687) was a British economist, scientist, and philosopher. He was a typical representative of mercantilism and one of the founders of classical economics. He conducted preliminary research on the labor theory of value, the division of labor, and distribution.

13.\Bougainville\ (P Pierre Le Pesant, 1646-1714), representative of French physiocracy, emphasized that agriculture is the foundation of society.

14.\Bernard Mandeville\ (B. Mandeville, 1670–1733), a British economist, emphasized that the pursuit of self-interest is inherent in human nature and affirmed the role of greed, extravagance, luxury, and vanity in economic prosperity and development. Thomas Robert Malthus drew from this the idea that insufficient consumption is harmful to the economy, while John Maynard Keynes adopted the notion that thrift is harmful, advocating for stimulating consumption, expanding non-productive spending, and maintaining economic prosperity. He authored \The Fable of the Bee\.

15.\Richard Cantillon\ (Richard Cantillon, 1680–1734), a leading figure of British physiocracy and one of the founders of classical economics, built upon the ideas of Petty and Boucheron to discuss the value of commodities, monetary theory, and distribution theory. He introduced the concepts of "intrinsic value" and "market price." His work, \An Essay on the Nature of the World's Commerce\, is considered the most important and outstanding economic treatise between Petty and Smith.

16.\François Quesnay\ (1694–1774), a representative of French physiocracy, emphasized the "pure product" theory, advocated free trade, and authored works such as \The Peasant\, \The Grain\, \The Human\, and \The Tax\, among which \The Economic Table\ had the greatest influence, clearly articulating the concept of equilibrium in the economy;

17.\David Hume\ (1711-1776), Scottish philosopher and economist, one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, proposed the "price-coinage circulation mechanism," and authored \An Enquiry Concerning the Understanding of the First Minds\ and \An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals\.

18.\Adam Smith\ (1723-1790), the founder of classical economics, refined Petty's ideas on the labor theory of value and the division of labor. The publication of The Wealth of Nations marked the formation of a theoretical system, and modern economics began to exist as an independent discipline.

19.\Anne Robert Jacques Turgot\ (1727-1781), a French thinker and representative of physiocracy, had frequent exchanges with Quesnay, developed Quesnay's "pure product" theory, and provided relatively clear definitions of the working class and the capitalist class. He authored \An Inquiry into the Nature and Principles of the Wealth of Nations\.

20.\Jeremy Bentham\ (1748-1832), British economist and utilitarian philosopher, author of \An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation\, introduced utility into economic research and constructed the prototype of utility theory.

21.\Thomas Robert Malthus\ (1766-1834), British economist, proposed the theory of population and the theory of insufficient effective demand, arguing that population increases geometrically, leading to overpopulation and, consequently, phenomena such as famine, poverty, and unemployment.

22.\Jean Baptiste Say\ (1767-1832), French economist, systematized and organized Smith's economic theory, and discussed political economy from the three dimensions of production, distribution, and consumption, establishing the "trichotomy." He authored An Introduction to Political Economy.

23.\David Ricardo\ (1772-1823), British economist, perfected monetary theory, labor value theory, distribution theory, and foreign trade theory, pushing classical economics to its peak. The publication of his "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" marked the final formation of British classical economics.

24.\Johann Heinrich von Thünen\ (1783-1850), pioneer of the marginal school, applied marginal theory to production theory and authored The Isolated State.

25.\Friedrich List\ (1789-1846), German economist and pioneer of the German Historical School, focused on how to establish an independent industrial system and emphasized the importance of comprehensive productivity for a country's development. He authored The National System of Political Economy.

26.\Nassau William Senior\ (1790–1864), British economist, author of Outlines of Political Economy, proposed the theory of "pure economics," arguing that political economy should be a discipline that studies the nature, production, and distribution of wealth.

27.\Frédéric Bastiat\ (Claude-Frédéric Bastiat, 1801-1850) was a renowned economist in France and continental Europe in the first half of the 19th century and a staunch advocate of free trade.

28.\Antoine Augustin Cournot\ (Antoine Augustin Cournot, 1801–1877), a French mathematician, economist, and philosopher, was a founder of mathematical statistics and a pioneer of the marginalist school. His contributions to microeconomics primarily focused on demand analysis, firm costs, and production decision analysis. He was also the first to propose that "when marginal revenue equals marginal cost, a firm achieves profit maximization."

29.\John Stuart Mill (the Younger Mill)\ (John Stuart Mill, 1806–1873), a British economist and philosopher, was influenced by his father's friends David Ricardo, David Hume, and Jeremy Bentham. He expanded and developed classical economics. His work \Principles of Political Economy\ dominated British economic education for 50 years before the publication of Alfred Marshall's \Principles of Economics\.

30.\Hermann Heinrich Gossen\ (1810-1858), pioneer of the marginalist school, was the first to propose a complete consumer theory based on the marginal principle. He authored The Development of the Laws of Human Exchange and the Principles of Human Conduct.

31\. \Wilhelm Roscher\ (1817–1894), a representative figure of the old historical school in Germany, completely rejected the classical school's abstract deductive method in economic methodology. He emphasized the importance of the "historical method," advocating that only through the collection and organization of a large amount of historical data could one summarize the patterns of economic evolution and guide economic development. He authored Outline of Lectures on National Economy Based on the Historical Method.

32.\Karl Marx\ (1818-1883), founder of Marxism, philosopher, political economist, and sociologist, established a consistent and comprehensive social science system, and authored Capital.

33.\Léon Walras\ (1834-1910), French economist, representative figure of the Lausanne School, proposed marginal utility analysis and general equilibrium analysis, and authored "Elements of Pure Economics."

34\. \William Stanley Jevons\ (1835–1882), a British economist and one of the leading figures of the marginalist school, opposed the economic theories of Ricardo and the younger Mill, admired Senier's economic analysis theory, advocated the use of mathematics as an analytical tool in economics, and divided economics into general economic theory and applied economic theory. He authored \The Theory of Political Economy\. Additionally, he derived his subjective utility theory from human desires and their satisfaction, distinguishing between total utility and the degree of utility—what we now refer to as "marginal utility." Jevons' law of diminishing marginal utility resolved the classical economists' "water and diamonds paradox." The emergence of utility theory also marked the end of the labor theory of value.

35.\Gustav Schmoller\ (1838-1917), one of the representatives of the German New Historical School, advocated the use of historical induction as the fundamental method for studying socioeconomics.

36.\Carl Menger\ (1840-1921), Austrian economist and one of the founders of the Austrian School of Economics, proposed the subjective value theory and extended the principle of marginal utility to the fields of survival and distribution through the attribution theory. He authored Principles of Economics.

37.\Alfred Marshall\ (1842–1924) synthesized the main ideas of the classical school and the marginalist school, founded the neoclassical school of economics, and constructed the analytical framework of modern microeconomics, namely the theory of equilibrium value (demand theory + supply theory). As a result, " political economy" was renamed "economics." His students included Arthur Cecil Pigou and John Maynard Keynes. He authored "Principles of Economics," which held the status of a standard economics textbook for over 40 years.

38.\Francis Y. Edgeworth\ (Francis Y. Edgeworth, 1845–1926), a British economist and one of the founders of the Royal Economic Society, served as editor of the \Economic Journal\ for 35 years. His major contributions include shifting economists' focus from cardinal utility to ordinal utility and clearly distinguishing between average and marginal production. He authored \Mathematical Psychology\ \Essays in Political Economy\;

39.\Vilfredo Pareto\ (1848–1923) was one of the founders of mathematical economics and a reformer of the neoclassical school. He criticized the cardinal utility theory of the marginalist school and the neoclassical school, and proposed the ordinal utility theory. Additionally, he inherited Walras' general equilibrium analysis method and, building on this, proposed the "Pareto optimum," laying the foundation for the emergence of new welfare economics.

40.\Friedrich von Wieser\ (Friedrich von Wieser, 1851–1926), Austrian economist and one of the founders of the Austrian School of Economics. Influenced by Menger's works during his university studies, he went to Germany to study economics. His main contributions include: defining exchange value as price or objective exchange value, distinguishing between natural value and exchange value, and introducing the concept of opportunity cost (first appearing in the works of Benjamin Franklin and Bastiat) into economics. He authored \Social Economics\.

41.\Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk\ (1851-1914), one of the founders of the Austrian School, proposed the time difference interest theory and criticized socialism.

42.\John Gustav Knut Wicksell\ (John Gustav Knut Wicksell, 1851–1926), a reformer of the neoclassical school, a pioneer of Keynesianism and modern monetary economics, built upon the work of Marshall and Fisher to further emphasize the impact of interest rate changes on the real economy, and also laid the foundation for Keynes' macroeconomics;

43.\Thorstein Bunde Veblen\ (1857-1929) was a representative of the sociological school of institutional economics. He emphasized the analysis of the stability and evolution of social institutions. He was the first editor-in-chief of the Journal of Political Economy and authored The Theory of the Leisure Class and The Theory of Business Enterprise.

44.\John Rogers Commons\ (1862-1945), representative of the legal school of institutional economics, emphasized the decisive role of legal systems in economic life.

45.\Max Weber\ (1864-1920), one of the representatives of the German New Historical School, attributed the rise of capitalism to religion and wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

46.\Irving Fisher\ (1867–1947), a reformer of the neoclassical school, a pioneer of Keynesianism and modern monetary economics, built upon Marshall's ideas to propose a more mature version of the Fisher equation: MV = PT, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity of money, P is the general price level, and T is the quantity of goods traded;

47.\Wesley Clair Mitchell\ (Wesley Clair Mitchell, 1874–1948) was a representative of the empirical statistics school in institutional economics and a student of Thorstein Veblen. He emphasized the use of statistical data to study economic phenomena, proposing that economic cyclical fluctuations arise because economic fluctuations occur in monetary economies, economic cycles are widely distributed throughout the entire economy, economic fluctuations depend on the prospects of profits, and economic fluctuations are caused by the economic system itself.

48.\Arthur Cecil Pigou\ (1877-1959), proponent of the neoclassical school, continued Marshall's focus on poverty issues, proposed the theory of externalities, price discrimination, and the Pigou effect, and authored \Welfare Economics\.

49.\Ludwig von Mises\ (1881-1973), American economist, father of the modern Austrian school of economics, promoted the development of monetary, credit, and economic cycle theories, constructed a theory of entrepreneurial talent as a coordinating and driving force in the market, and refined the methodological foundations of the Austrian school.

50.\John Maynard Keynes\ (John Maynard Keynes, 1883–1946), British economist and founder of modern macroeconomics, proposed theories on consumption, investment, liquidity preference, monetary wages, prices, and the business cycle. He authored \The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money\. His father, John Neville Keynes, was an early disciple of Alfred Marshall.

51.\Joseph Alois Schumpeter\ (1883–1950), an Austrian-American economist who studied under John Maynard Keynes and was a classmate of Ludwig von Mises, authored works such as \The Theory of Economic Movement\ and \Economic Development: A Theoretical Approach\. His theories form a coherent system centered on innovation theory, exploring the development and cyclical fluctuations of capitalism, explaining monopoly and competition, and even using innovation theory to predict the future of capitalism.

52.\Alvin H. Hansen\ (1887–1975), an American economist, pioneer, and founder of the neoclassical synthesis school, was nicknamed " the American Keynes," proposed the "compensatory fiscal policy," and, together with Paul Samuelson, developed the multiplier-accelerator principle model to explain economic cycles, further developing the IS-LM model proposed by British economist John Hicks;

53.\Piero Sraffa\ (1898-1983), British economist, one of the leading figures of the New Cambridge School, and a close associate of Keynes, published \The Production of the Means of Subsistence in Capitalism: A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy\, reconstructing Ricardo's theories of production, value, and distribution;

54.\Edward Hastings Chamberlin\ (1899-1967), American economist, author of \The Theory of Monopolistic Competition\, proposed a model of monopolistic competition between perfect competition and perfect monopoly.

55.\Friedrich August von Hayek\ (Friedrich August von Hayek, 1899–1992), British economist, recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics, was influenced by Mises in the field of economics. He developed his own theories on money and economic cycles, introduced the concept of order, advocated the rule of law, and authored works such as \Law, Legislation, and Liberty\ and \The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism\.

56.\Roy Forbes Harrod\ (1900-1978), British economist, author of Introduction to Dynamic Economics, systematically proposed an economic growth model.

57.\Joan Robinson\ (1903-1983) was a British economist, a leading figure and de facto leader of the New Cambridge School. She authored \The Economics of Incomplete Competition\, one of the foundational works of monopoly competition theory. The publication of this book marked the definitive end of the "Smithian tradition."

58.\John R. Hicks\ (1904-1989), British economist, was one of the earliest pioneers in the microeconomic analysis of macroeconomics. He developed and refined Keynes' macroeconomic theory, condensing Keynes' General Theory into the IS-LM model.

59.\John Kenneth Galbraith\ (1908-2006) was one of the leading figures of the New Institutional School. Unlike other economists who tended to speculate about future developments, he focused more on existing systems and proposed the "dual system" theory and the dependency effect.

60.\Nicholas Kaldor\ (Nicholas Kaldor, 1908–1986), British economist and one of the leading figures of the New Cambridge School, authored \Two Theories of Distribution\, which integrated economic growth theory with income distribution theory and proposed his own economic cycle theory;

61.\Ronald Harry Coase\ (1910–2013), British economist, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1991 for his discovery and clarification of the role and significance of transaction costs in the structure and operation of economic systems.

62.\Milton Friedman\ (1912-2006), American economist, founder of modern monetarism, developed a new quantity theory of money based on a revision of Keynes' liquidity preference theory, and authored \Quantity Theory of Money: A New Interpretation\.

63.\Evsey Domar\ (1914–1997), a Polish-American economist, author of \Capital Accumulation, Growth Rate, and Employment\ and \Expansion and Employment\, proposed a growth model similar to Harold's, which his peers referred to as the "Harold-Domar growth model."

64.\William Arthur Lewis\ (Sir William Arthur Lewis, 1915-1991), an economist from Saint Lucia, proposed the Lewis turning point and won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 together with Schultz.

65.\Paul A. Samuelson\ (1915–2009), an American economist, one of the leading figures of the neoclassical synthesis, and a prominent representative of contemporary Keynesianism, studied under Joseph Schumpeter, Alvin Hansen, among others, developed static and dynamic economic theories, introduced mathematical analysis into economic research, and authored \Economics\, which integrated macroeconomics and microeconomics, establishing the theoretical framework of the neoclassical synthesis and setting the standard for contemporary economics textbooks.

66.\Herbert Simon\ (1916-2001), American economist, first to propose "bounded rationality" and "satisficing behavior," won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1978, and authored works including \Management by the Human Element\, \Decision Making in Economics and Behavioral Science\, and \The Self-Interested Animal\.

67.\Douglass North\ (1920–2015) was an American economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1993 for his contributions to economic history by introducing economic theory and quantitative methods to explain economic change. He is the author of \The Economic Growth of the United States: 1790–1860\.

68.\Don Patinkin\ (1922–1995), an American Jew, was one of the leading figures of the Keynesian school of disequilibrium economics. He was among the first to study disequilibrium issues and authored \Money, Interest, and Prices\.

69.\Robert Merton Solow\ (1924–2023), an American economist, proposed the Solow model, a neoclassical synthesis economic growth model. He received the John Bates Clark Award in 1961 and the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1987.

70.\Robert Wayne Clower\ (1926–2011), American economist and one of the leading figures of the Keynesian school of disequilibrium economics, argued that in a disequilibrium situation, it is necessary to distinguish between the quantity of plans or ideas and the quantity that is real or effective.

71.\Robert Fogel\ (Robert William Fogel, 1926–2013), American economist, who, along with Douglas North, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1993 for introducing economic theory and quantitative methods to the study of economic change in economic history.

72.\Vernon Lomax Smith\ (1927– ), American economist and father of experimental economics, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for pioneering a series of experimental methods that established standards for conducting economic research through laboratory experiments.

73.\Gary Becker\ (1930–2014), American economist, founder of human capital theory, pioneer of family economics, proponent of neoliberal economic views, advocate of free-market economics, author of \Discrimination Economics\ and \The Family\. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992.

74.\Oliver Eaton Williamson\ (1932–2020), American economist, student of Herbert Simon and others, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for his analysis of economic governance, particularly the boundaries of the firm.

75.\Axel Leijonhufvud\ (1933–2022), Swedish economist, one of the leading figures of the Keynesian school of disequilibrium economics, and a student of Kroll, pointed out the fundamental flaws in Walra's general equilibrium theory;

76.\Edmund F. Phelps\ (Edmund Strother Phelps, 1933– ), American economist and founder of modern macroeconomics, awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2006 for his research on intertemporal decision-making in macroeconomics.

77.\Robert Lucas\ (1937–2023), American economist, built upon Schultz's human capital theory to propose the endogenous growth model of human capital, and authored Understanding Economic Cycles and Unemployment Policy.

78.\George Arthur Akerlof\ (1940- ), American economist, known for his contributions to the theory of information asymmetry, which laid the foundation for asymmetric market theory. He shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics with Joseph Stiglitz.

79.\Stanley Fischer\ (1943– ), American economist and one of the core figures of New Keynesian economics, believes that proactive monetary policy can help alleviate problems during economic recessions. He is the author of Macroeconomics.

80.\Joseph Stiglitz\ (Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, 1943- ), American economist, known for his contributions to the theory of information asymmetry, which laid the foundation for asymmetric market theory. He shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics with Akerlof.

81.\Paul Robin Krugman\ (1953– ), American economist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2008 for his analysis of trade patterns and regional economic activity.

82.\Ben Bernanke\ (Ben Shalom Bernanke, 1953– ), an American Jewish economist, was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economics for his in-depth research on banking and financial crises;

83.\Avner Greif\ (1955- ), American economics professor, incorporated game theory into the study of social institutions that have a positive impact on economic development, and proposed that informal mechanisms can effectively replace formal contract enforcement systems;

84.\Nicholas Gregory Mankiw\ (1958–), American economist and one of the leading figures of the New Keynesian school, proposed an alternative theory to the widely used Phillips curve—the information stickiness model—and authored Principles of Economics.

02 Key figures now and in the future

1.\George Joseph Stigler\ (George Joseph Stigler, 1911–1991), an American economist and one of the leading figures of the Chicago School, was a pioneer of information economics. He proposed the theory of regulatory economics and the regulatory capture theory, emphasizing the importance of information. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1982 and authored works such as \The Theory of Economic Regulation\ and \The Theory of Price\.

2.\William Baumol\ (William Jack Baumol, 1922–2017), an American economist and one of the leading figures of the New Keynesian school, proposed the Baumol model, the Baumol-Tobin model, the Baumol cost disease, the theory of competitive markets, the concept of entrepreneurship, and theories on innovation and economic growth. He is the author of \The Miracle of Capitalist Growth: The Free Market Innovation Machine\.

3.\Eugene Fama\ (Eugene Francis Fama, 1939–2013), an American economist and the father of modern finance, proposed the efficient market hypothesis and, in collaboration with Kenneth R. French, developed the three-factor model. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his outstanding contributions to the field of asset pricing. He is the author of "Financial Theory" and other works.

4.\Michael Cole Jensen\ (1939–2024), American economist, co-founder of the Journal of Financial Economics, proposed agency theory, capital structure theory, the free cash flow hypothesis, organizational strategy theory, and a method for measuring fund manager performance—Jensen's α.

5.\Thomas John Sargent\ (1943–), an American economist, co-developed the rational expectations theory with Robert Lucas and others. In 2011, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, along with Christopher Sims, for their contributions to empirical research on causal relationships in macroeconomics.

6.\William Schwert\ (G. William Schwert, 1949- ), American economist, primarily researching financial market volatility, market efficiency, and IPO markets, author of The Variability of IPO Initial Returns.

7.\Whitney Kent Newey\ (Whitney Kent Newey, 1954–), an American economist and professor of econometrics, co-developed the Newey-West estimator with Kenneth D. West. This estimator can robustly estimate the covariance matrix of a regression model even when the errors exhibit heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation.

8.\Andrei Shleifer\ (1961–), American economist and one of the leading figures in behavioral finance, proposed corporate governance theory and studied the impact of investor protection on company market valuations, among other topics. He is the author of \The Plunderers\ and \The Limits of Arbitrage\, among other works.

9.\Daron Acemoglu\ (1967–), an Armenian-American economist and follower of the new institutional economics, primarily studies the role of institutions in shaping national economic outcomes. He is the author of \Dictatorship and Democracy: The Economic Origins of the World's Political Systems\ and \Modern Economic Growth: A Short Introduction\.

10.\Sendhil Mullainathan\ (Sendhil Mullainathan, 1973–), Professor of Computational and Behavioral Science at the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, USA. His research focuses on development economics, behavioral economics, and corporate finance. Together with Eldar Shafir, he proposed the scarcity mindset theory, which explores how poverty affects people's psychological resources and decision-making abilities. He is the author of \Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much\.

11.\Raj Chetty\ (1979–), an Indian-American economist, has studied the impact of geographic location on economic mobility. In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, he developed the "Opportunity Atlas," which maps the roots of wealth and poverty down to the community level, revealing which areas in the United States offer children the best opportunities for success.

12.\Boyan Jovanovic\ (born and died unknown), Serbian economist, co-author of Mean-Field Game Theory with Robert W. Rosenthal, student of Robert Lucas Jr.

13.\René M. Stulz\ (birth and death dates unknown), Professor of Finance at the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. From 1982 to 1987, Stulz served as editor of the \Journal of Financial Economics\, and from 1988 to 2000 as executive editor of the \Journal of Finance\. He made significant contributions to risk management theory, the globalization of financial markets, and international asset pricing models.

14\. \Clifford W. Smith\ (Clifford W. Smith, dates of birth and death unknown), Professor of Finance at the Simon Business School, University of Rochester, developed and tested hypotheses explaining firms' choices of accounts receivable management policies, including cross-sectional explanations of the determinants of policy choices and the motives for establishing financial subsidiaries;

15.\Robert F.\\Stambaugh\ (Robert F. Stambaugh, dates of birth and death unknown) conducted research in multiple fields, including asset pricing, portfolio selection, parameter uncertainty, and market efficiency. He co-developed the renowned Pastor-Stambaugh liquidity measure with colleagues, studying the impact of liquidity risk on asset pricing. In collaboration with Yu Yuan, he proposed the "mispricing factors," which help explain anomalies in asset prices. He is the author of \Size and Value in China\.

16.\Emmanuel Saez\ (born 1972), a French-American economist, proposed the optimal tax theory. His research also covers wealth and income inequality, capital income taxes, and retirement. He is the author of \The Winning 10%: The Rise of the Wealthiest Americans and the End of the American Dream\.

03 Some discussions on the above-mentioned key figures

The past is judged by the present; the present is judged by the future.

I have no way of knowing whether the "key figures of the present and future" will be judged by future generations as key drivers of the evolution of economic theory.

I can only share my own screening logic for discussion purposes:

First, I downloaded academic articles from five top economics journals (Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Econometrica, and Journal of Financial Economics) from the literature database, covering nearly 30,000 academic articles in the field of economics.

Second, for these nearly 30,000 academic papers, I conducted author collaboration network analysis, author co-citation analysis, H-index analysis, and literature citation analysis to select the top ten most productive economists and the top ten most highly cited economists in each journal, for a total of nearly 100 top economists.

Then, by comparing the lists of high-producing and highly cited economists, we found that 20 top economists appeared on both lists.

Finally, remove the four economists who appear in both the first and second sections and compile the above list of key figures.

On the surface, this screening logic seems to be quite consistent.

In fact, there are many hidden flaws behind the scenes.

For example, analyzing 30,000 academic articles will certainly yield less accurate results than analyzing 100,000 or 300,000 articles.

For example, top economists who do not appear in the top ten lists of high productivity and high citations do not necessarily mean that they are not top-notch. It just means that at this moment, there are top-notch economists above them, and even rising stars have just begun to "sprout." This will result in many omissions.

For example, highly cited literature is easily affected by time. In other words, the longer a piece of literature has been published, the more citations it will naturally receive compared to newly published literature. A high number of citations does not necessarily mean that newly published literature is of little value.

Ref:

1\. Wei, Lili (ed.). (2023). History of Economic Thought. Mechanical Industry Press.

2\. OpenAlex

3\. Web of Science