The Legacy of Influential Economists in Modern Economics
Chosen theme: The Legacy of Influential Economists in Modern Economics. Explore how big ideas from landmark thinkers still steer markets, policies, and everyday choices. Read, reflect, and share your perspective—subscribe to join thoughtful debates on economics that matter.
From Smith’s Insight to Today’s Everyday Markets
When your local store adjusts prices after a storm, you are witnessing Smith’s invisible hand at work. Suppliers respond to signals, shelves refill, and scarcity eases without a central directive. Comment if you’ve noticed these subtle price cues.
From Smith’s Insight to Today’s Everyday Markets
David Ricardo’s idea travels inside your smartphone: parts designed in one country, manufactured in another, assembled elsewhere, and sold globally. Specialization lowers costs and raises quality. Share a product you use that embodies this borderless cooperation.
Hayek’s Knowledge Problem in a Data-Driven World
Energy prices rising on a cold evening prompt households to adjust thermostats and firms to ramp supply. No central planner sent instructions; prices carried the message. Have you ever changed behavior because a price told you a story?
Milton Friedman and the Central Bank Shift
From Money Growth to Credible Targets
The journey from controlling money supply to inflation targeting still echoes Friedman’s emphasis on expectations. Clear goals anchor behavior. Have central bank announcements changed your mortgage decisions, investment timing, or business planning?
Permanent Income and Your Saving Habits
Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis explains why people smooth consumption across good and bad times. Think of a bonus saved for future bills. Share how you plan across pay cycles to steady your lifestyle.
Inflation: Always and Everywhere a Narrative
Friedman’s famous line reminds us inflation is not just prices rising, but a monetary story. When credibility wobbles, costs soar. What signs tell you inflation fears are returning, and how do you prepare?
The Behavioral Turn: Kahneman, Tversky, and Thaler
We value things more once they’re ours. That mug you price too high? Classic endowment effect. A neighbor finally haggled me down with a joke, and I learned the bias firsthand. What’s your favorite bargaining story?
The Behavioral Turn: Kahneman, Tversky, and Thaler
Auto-enrollment in retirement plans quietly boosts participation because default options are sticky. A small design choice compounds into decades of security. Have defaults ever steered your choices in ways you only noticed later?
Development and Dignity: Sen, Banerjee, Duflo, Kremer
Capabilities Over Mere Incomes
Amartya Sen urges us to judge progress by what people can do—learn, speak, vote, be healthy. A stipend that lets a girl stay in school expands real freedom. Which capability would you prioritize first?
Field Experiments That Change Minds
Randomized evaluations of education, health, and finance—like deworming programs—reshaped policy by measuring outcomes rigorously. Evidence can surprise us, overturning intuition. Share a policy result that defied your expectations.
Cash, Choice, and Respect
Direct cash transfers and mobile money reduce overhead and trust individuals. It’s not just efficient; it’s respectful. Where do you stand on cash versus in-kind support, and why?
Econometrics and the Causal Revolution
Policy changes or shocks can mimic randomized trials, revealing causal effects. Studies of minimum wage shifts and employment sparked debate and better methods. Which natural experiment taught you something unexpected about your city or industry?
Econometrics and the Causal Revolution
Clever instruments—like birth quarter affecting schooling length—help isolate causal impacts of education on earnings. The craft lies in assumptions. What evidence would convince you an instrument is credible?
Elinor Ostrom and the Power of the Commons
01
Clear rules, monitoring, and local conflict resolution keep fisheries and forests healthy. I once heard a fisher describe peer-enforced limits with pride, not fear. Have you seen community rules save a shared resource?
02
Multiple centers of decision-making—cities, firms, communities—tackle climate challenges faster than one-size-fits-all mandates. Collaboration beats command. Which local climate action impressed you this year?
03
Digital commons like open-source code and Wikipedia echo Ostrom’s insights: norms over coercion, transparency over secrecy. What governance rules would you add to keep your favorite online community healthy?