Ten Great Economists
Scotland, 1723-1791
The father of modern economics, he saw the market system acting as an
"invisible hand" which leads people to unintentionally promote
society's interests while pursuing their own.
England, 1772-1823
His theory that landlords enriched themselves at the expense of society
led him to campaign tirelessly in Parliament and in print for free trade.
England, 1766-1834
A Classical economist, he startled early 19th century society with his
pessimistic prediction that population growth would exceed food supply,
condemning mankind to misery.
England, 1806-1873
The last of the great economists of the Classical
School, he denied the doctrine that society could not alter the existing
distribution of income.
Germany, 1818-1883
Intellectual father of modern day Marxist
economics, he predicted that capitalism would be ultimately destroyed
by its own inherent contradictions.
France, 1834-1910
He revolutionized economics with his rigorous mathematical formulation
of the mechanics of the price system.
England, 1842-1924
He demonstrated the tremendous theoretical power of demand and supply
curves, and bequeathed to economics the critical distinction between the
short run and the long run.
United States, 1857-1929
One of the leading Institutionalists,
he is best remembered for his theory of "conspicuous consumption"
which parodied the ostentation of the Gilded Age.
England, 1883-1946
His ideas on the causes of unemployment revolutionalized macroeconomic
theory and profoundly altered government's involvement in the economy.
United States, 1867-1947
His work on money and prices, with its sophisticated use of statistical
techniques, provided the basis for recent theoretical work in economics.
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