Chapter 22
Ten (Or So) Recent Nobel Laureates in Economics
IN THIS CHAPTER
Highlighting some outstanding recent Nobel Laureates in Economics
Explaining their pathbreaking new ideas
This chapter provides short biographies for a dozen of the most influential economists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Each of them either (1) substantially improved the theories that economists use to understand what’s going on in our often-confusing world, or (2) developed or improved methods for analyzing and interpreting real-world data. Several of them did both.
I hope you find this list inspiring, especially if you’re young. Economics has made great strides in my lifetime, but there’s still so much more left to do!
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen is an Indian economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his contributions to welfare economics, which is the branch of economics that evaluates — and develops measures to improve — individual and collective well-being.
Sen’s work centers on the idea that measuring a country's economic growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) doesn't tell the whole story. True economic development requires considering a range of factors, such as education, healthcare, and political freedoms, all of which contribute to well-being.
According to Sen, the ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access