“Greatest Twentieth-Century Economists” before the GFC
Four years ago the real-world economics review held the Greatest Twentieth-Century Economists Poll. 1.249 subscribers to the then post-autistic economics review voted. The voting instructions specified “Greatest” as meaning “not who most influenced the economics profession or ideology, but rather who most added to our understanding of economic phenomena.” In the real world, four years is sometimes a long time. One wonders, and maybe we should find out, how different the results might be if we conducted the same or similar poll today, post-GFC. Some of the names that appear in the top 20 now look like black comedy. And Hyman Minsky is way down in 39th position with only 54 votes.
Results of the post-autistic economics review’s
Greatest Twentieth-Century Economists Poll
Subscribers to this journal were asked: (January and February 2006)
Who were the greatest economists of the 20th-Century?
“Greatest” here means not who most influenced the economics profession or ideology, but rather who most added to our understanding of economic phenomena. Vote for your top five. The economist who is your first choice will be credited with five votes, your second choice with four, your third with three, your fourth with two and your fifth with one. You may vote for fewer than five if you wish. Only subscribers to the post-autistic economics review are eligible to vote. The votes of subscribers who submit more than one set of votes will not be counted.
1,249 subscribers voted. The results are as follows.
1. John Maynard Keynes 3,253
2. Joseph Alois Schumpeter 1,080
3. John Kenneth Galbraith 904
4. Amartya Sen 708
5. Joan Robinson 607
6. Thorstein Veblen 591
7. Michal Kalecki 481
8. Friedrich Hayek 469
9. Karl Polanyi 456
10. Piero Sraffa 383
11. Joseph Stiglitz 333
12. Kenneth Arrow 320
13. Milton Friedman 319
13. Paul Samuelson 319
15. Paul Sweezy 268
16. Herman Daly 267
17. Herbert Simon 250
18. Ronald Coase 246
19. Gunnar Myrdal 216
20. Alfred Marshall 211
21. Albert Hirschmann 208
22. Nicholoas Georgescu-Roegen 205
23. Kenneth Boulding 174
24. Wassily Leontief 153
25. Nicholas Kaldor 141
26. Douglas North 138
27. Raul Prebisch 102
28. John Hicks 97
29. Ernest Mandel 87
30. Ludwig von Mises 78
31. John R.Commons 76
32. Richard R.Nelson 72
33. George Akerlof 71
34. E. F. Schumacher 67
35. Paul Krugman 64
36. Daniel Kahneman 60
37. Gary Becker 58
38. Robert Heilbroner 57
39. Hyman Minsky 54
40. Thomas Schelling 53
41. Arthur Lewis 52
42. John Nash 51
43. Samir Amin 49
43. James Buchanan 49
45. Celso Furtado 48
45. John von Neuman 48
47. Irving Fisher 43
48. Jan Tinbergen 42
49. Maurice Dobb 41
49. Simon Kuznets 41
51. Robert Solow 40
52. Michel Aglietta 38
52. Nancy Folbre 38
54. Silvio Gesell 37
54. Rosa Luxemburg 37
56. Vladimir Lenin 36
57. Vernon Smith 35
58. Mason Gaffney 34
59. Robert Lucas 32
59. Oliver Williamson 32
61. Paul Baran 31
62. François Perroux 28
63. George Shackle 27
63. Rudolf Steiner 27
63. James Tobin 27
66. Luigi Passinetti 26
67. Brian Arthur 24
67. Deirdre McCloskey 24
67. Tony Lawson 24
70. Clarence Ayres 23
70. Knut Wicksell 23
72. Mancur Olson 22
72. Maurice Allais 22
72. Ha-Joon Chang 22
72. Christopher Freeman 22
72. Max Weber 22
78. Hernando de Soto 21
78. Samuel Bowles 20
78. George Stigler 20
78. Anwar Shaikh 20
78. Amos Tversky 20
82. Geoffrey Hodgson 19
82. Frank Knight 19
82. Vilfredo Pareto 19
82. Lance Taylor 19
86. Andre Gunder Frank 18
86. Immanuel Wallerstein 18
88. Louis O. Kelso 17
88. Janos Kornai 17
90. Robert Boyer 16
90. Paul Davidson 16
90. William Kapp 16
90. Abba Lerner 16
94. William Baumol 15
94. Diane Elson 15
94. Pierangelo Garegnani 15
94. Roy Harrod 15
94. Franco Modigliani 15
94. Richard Thaler 15
94. William Vickrey 15
For people receiving less than 15 votes go to http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue36/furtherresults.htm
How about a list of top economists who are “living” so we known who to trust!