Curriculum Modern Economists & Their Big Ideas
Modern Economists & Their Big Ideas
The thinkers who shaped economics since the Second World War - Samuelson, Arrow, Minsky, Stiglitz, Krugman, Deaton, Bernanke, Thaler, Banerjee and Duflo, Goldin, Acemoglu and Bhagwati - and the ideas that still matter.
- Paul Samuelson: The Economist's Economist How Paul Samuelson brought mathematics into economics, wrote its best-selling textbook, and helped define public goods and the modern theory of trade. 📄 Read-aloud
- Kenneth Arrow: Markets, Uncertainty and Health Care How Kenneth Arrow proved when markets work efficiently, and then explained why health care markets are different, founding health economics. 📄 Read-aloud
- Hyman Minsky: Why Stability Breeds Instability How Hyman Minsky explained that long periods of calm encourage risky borrowing that eventually leads to crises, and why his ideas returned after 2008. 📄 Read-aloud
- Joseph Stiglitz: When Information Is Imperfect How Joseph Stiglitz showed that imperfect information makes markets fail in many ways, and why he became a prominent critic of the IMF and globalisation policies. 📄 Read-aloud
- Paul Krugman: Why Similar Countries Trade How Paul Krugman explained trade between similar countries using economies of scale and consumer love of variety, and his role as a public commentator. 📄 Read-aloud
- Angus Deaton: Measuring Poverty and Wellbeing How Angus Deaton used household surveys to study consumption, poverty and health, including debates about poverty and nutrition in India. 📄 Read-aloud
- Modern Economists & Their Big Ideas: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on Samuelson, Arrow, Minsky, Stiglitz, Krugman and Deaton. 5 questions
- Ben Bernanke: Banks, Depressions and 2008 How Ben Bernanke's research on bank failures in the Great Depression shaped his response to the 2008 crisis as chair of the US Federal Reserve. 📄 Read-aloud
- Richard Thaler: Economics Meets Psychology How Richard Thaler brought psychology into economics, developed ideas like mental accounting, and helped design nudges that raise savings. 📄 Read-aloud
- Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo: Testing What Works How Banerjee and Duflo, with Michael Kremer, transformed development economics by using randomised experiments to test anti-poverty programmes. 📄 Read-aloud
- Claudia Goldin: Women, Work and the Pay Gap How Claudia Goldin used centuries of data to explain women's changing role in the labour market and why a pay gap persists, winning the 2023 Nobel prize. 📄 Read-aloud
- Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson: Why Institutions Matter How three economists showed that inclusive institutions, shaped by colonial history, explain why some nations became rich and others stayed poor. 📄 Read-aloud
- Jagdish Bhagwati: The Case for Trade and Growth How Indian-born economist Jagdish Bhagwati argued for free trade and against India's licence raj, his famous debate with Amartya Sen, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud