Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief (Russian:Васи́лий Васи́льевич Лео́нтьев; August 5, 1905 – February 5, 1999) was a Soviet-Americaneconomist known for his research oninput–output analysis and how changes in oneeconomic sector may affect other sectors.

Leontief was awarded theNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1973, and four of his doctoral students have also been awarded the prize (Paul Samuelson 1970,Robert Solow 1987,Vernon L. Smith 2002,Thomas Schelling 2005). (Full article...)

Experimental economics is the application ofexperimental methods to study economic questions.Data collected in experiments are used to estimateeffect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic experiments usually use cash to motivate subjects, in order to mimic real-world incentives. Experiments are used to help understand how and why markets and other exchange systems function as they do. Experimental economics have also expanded to understand institutions and the law (experimental law and economics).

A fundamental aspect of the subject isdesign of experiments. Experiments may be conducted in thefield or in laboratory settings, whether ofindividual orgroupbehavior. (Full article...)

Theneoclassical synthesis (NCS), orneoclassical–Keynesian synthesis, is an academic movement and paradigm ineconomics that worked towards reconciling themacroeconomic thought ofJohn Maynard Keynes in his bookThe General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) withneoclassical economics.

The neoclassical synthesis is a macroeconomic theory that emerged in the mid-20th century, combining the ideas of neoclassical economics with Keynesian economics. The synthesis was an attempt to reconcile the apparent differences between the two schools of thought and create a more comprehensive theory of macroeconomics. (Full article...)

TheLausanne School ofeconomics, sometimes referred to as theMathematical School, refers to theneoclassical economics school of thought surroundingLéon Walras andVilfredo Pareto. It is named after theUniversity of Lausanne, at which both Walras and Pareto held professorships. Polish economistLeon Winiarski is also said to have been a member of the Lausanne School. (Full article...)

Karl Marx (German:[ˈkaʁlˈmaʁks]; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a Germanphilosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, andrevolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphletThe Communist Manifesto (written withFriedrich Engels), and his three-volumeDas Kapital (1867–1894), acritique of classical political economy which employs his theory ofhistorical materialism in an analysis ofcapitalism, in the culmination of his life's work. Marx's ideas and their subsequent development, collectively known asMarxism, have had enormous influence.

Born inTrier in theKingdom of Prussia, Marx studied at theUniversity of Bonn and theUniversity of Berlin, and received adoctoral degree in philosophy from theUniversity of Jena in 1841. AYoung Hegelian, he was influenced by the philosophy ofGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and both critiqued and developed Hegel's ideas in works such asThe German Ideology (written 1846) and theGrundrisse (written 1857–1858). While in Paris, Marx wrote hisEconomic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and met Engels, who became his closest friend and collaborator. After moving to Brussels in 1845, they were active in theCommunist League, and in 1848 they wroteThe Communist Manifesto, which expresses Marx's ideas and lays out a programme for revolution. Marx was expelled from Belgium and Germany, and in 1849 moved to London, where he wroteThe Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852) andDas Kapital. From 1864, Marx was involved in theInternational Workingmen's Association (First International), in which he fought the influence ofanarchists led byMikhail Bakunin. In hisCritique of the Gotha Programme (1875), Marx wrote on revolution, the state and the transition to communism. He diedstateless in 1883 and was buried inHighgate Cemetery. (Full article...)

Neo-Marxism is a collection ofMarxist schools of thought originating from 20th-century approaches to amend or extend Marxism andMarxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such ascritical theory,psychoanalysis, orexistentialism. Neo-Marxism comes under the broader framework of theNew Left. In asociological sense, neo-Marxism addsMax Weber's broader understanding ofsocial inequality, such asstatus andpower, toMarxist philosophy.

As with many uses of the prefixneo-, some theorists and groups who are designated as neo-Marxists have attempted to supplement the perceived deficiencies oforthodox Marxism ordialectical materialism. Many prominent neo-Marxists, such asHerbert Marcuse and other members of theFrankfurt School, have historically beensociologists andpsychologists. (Full article...)

John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron KeynesCB, FBA (/keɪnz/KAYNZ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice ofmacroeconomics and theeconomic policies of governments. Originally trained in mathematics, he built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes ofbusiness cycles. One of the most influential economists of the 20th century, he produced writings that are the basis for theschool of thought known asKeynesian economics, and its various offshoots. His ideas, reformulated asNew Keynesianism, are fundamental tomainstream macroeconomics. He is known as the "father of macroeconomics".

Keynes was educated atKing's College at theUniversity of Cambridge, where he graduated in 1904 with aB.A. in mathematics. During theGreat Depression of the 1930s, Keynes spearheadeda revolution in economic thinking, challenging the ideas ofneoclassical economics that held thatfree markets would, in the short to medium term, automatically provide full employment, as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands. He argued thataggregate demand (total spending in the economy) determined the overall level of economic activity, and that inadequate aggregate demand could lead to prolonged periods of high unemployment, and since wages and labour costs arerigid downwards the economy will not automatically rebound to full employment. Keynes advocated the use offiscal andmonetary policies to mitigate the adverse effects of economicrecessions anddepressions. After the 1929 crisis, Keynes also turned away from a fundamental pillar of neoclassical economics:free trade. He criticized Ricardiancomparative advantage theory (the foundation of free trade), considering the theory's initial assumptions unrealistic, and became definitively protectionist. He detailed these ideas in his magnum opus,The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in early 1936. By the late 1930s, leading Western economies had begun adopting Keynes's policy recommendations. Almost allcapitalist governments had done so by the end of the two decades following Keynes's death in 1946. As a leader of the British delegation, Keynes participated in the design of the international economic institutions established after the end ofWorld War II but was overruled by the American delegation on several aspects. (Full article...)

TheAmerican School, also known as theNational System, represents three different yet related constructs in politics, policy and philosophy. The policy existed from the 1790s to the 1970s, waxing and waning in actual degrees and details of implementation. HistorianMichael Lind describes it as a coherent applied economic philosophy with logical and conceptual relationships with other economic ideas.

It is themacroeconomic philosophy that dominatedUnited States national policies from the time of theAmerican Civil War until the mid-20th century. Closely related tomercantilism, it can be seen as contrary toclassical economics. It consisted of these three core policies:

1. Protecting industry through selective high tariffs (especially 1861–1932).
2. Government investments in infrastructure creating targetedinternal improvements (especially in transportation).
3. A nationalbank with policies that promote the growth of productive enterprises rather than speculation.

(Full article...)

Microeconomics is a branch ofeconomics that studies the behavior of individuals andfirms in making decisions regarding the allocation ofscarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. Microeconomics focuses on the study of individual markets, sectors, or industries as opposed to the economy as a whole, which is studied inmacroeconomics.

One goal of microeconomics is to analyze themarket mechanisms that establishrelative prices among goods and services and allocate limited resources among alternative uses. Microeconomics shows conditions under which free markets lead to desirable allocations. It also analyzesmarket failure, where markets fail to produceefficient results. (Full article...)

New classical macroeconomics is a school of thought inmacroeconomics based on aneoclassical framework. It emphasizes the importance of foundations based onmicroeconomics, especiallyrational expectations.

New classical macroeconomics uses neoclassical microeconomic foundations for macroeconomic analysis. This is in contrast with thenew Keynesian school that usesmicrofoundations, such asprice stickiness andimperfect competition, to generate macroeconomic models similar to earlier, Keynesian ones. (Full article...)

Marginalism is a theory ofeconomics that attempts to explain the discrepancy in the value of goods and services by reference to their secondary, or marginal, utility. It states that the reason why the price of diamonds is higher than that of water, for example, owes to the greater additional satisfaction of the diamonds over the water. Thus, while the water has greater total utility, the diamond has greatermarginal utility.

Although the central concept of marginalism is that of marginal utility, marginalists, following the lead ofAlfred Marshall, drew upon the idea ofmarginal physical productivity in explanation ofcost. Theneoclassical tradition that emerged fromBritish marginalism abandoned the concept ofutility and gavemarginal rates of substitution a more fundamental role in analysis. Marginalism is an integral part ofmainstream economic theory. (Full article...)

Theeconomics of happiness orhappiness economics is the theoretical, qualitative and quantitative study of happiness andquality of life, including positive and negativeaffects,well-being,life satisfaction and related concepts – typically tying economics more closely than usual with othersocial sciences, like sociology andpsychology, as well as physical health. It typically treats subjective happiness-related measures, as well as more objective quality of life indices, rather than wealth, income or profit, as something to be maximized.

The field has grown substantially since the late 20th century, for example by the development of methods, surveys and indices to measurehappiness and related concepts, as well as quality of life. Happiness findings have been described as a challenge to the theory and practice of economics. Nevertheless, furthering gross national happiness, as well as a specified Index to measure it, has been adopted explicitly in theConstitution of Bhutan in 2008, to guide its economic governance. (Full article...)

Monetary circuit theory is aheterodox theory ofmonetary economics, particularlymoney creation, often associated with thepost-Keynesian school.
It holds that money is created endogenously by thebanking sector, rather than exogenously bycentral bank lending; it is a theory ofendogenous money. It is also calledcircuitism and thecirculation approach. (Full article...)

Thorstein Bunde Veblen (/ˈθɔːrstaɪnˈvɛblən/; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an Americaneconomist andsociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-knowncritic of capitalism.

In his best-known book,The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Veblen coined the concepts ofconspicuous consumption andconspicuous leisure. Veblen laid the foundation for the perspective ofinstitutional economics. Contemporary economists still theorize Veblen's distinction between "institutions" and "technology", known as the Veblenian dichotomy. (Full article...)

James McGill Buchanan Jr. (/bjuːˈkænən/bew-KAN-ən; October 3, 1919 – January 9, 2013) was an Americaneconomist known for his work onpublic choice theory originally outlined in his most famous work,The Calculus of Consent, co-authored withGordon Tullock in 1962. He continued to develop the theory, eventually receiving theNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' and bureaucrats' self-interest, utility maximization, and other non-wealth-maximizing considerations affect their decision-making. He was a member of the Board of Advisors ofThe Independent Institute as well as of theInstitute of Economic Affairs, a member of theMont Pelerin Society (MPS) and MPS president from 1984 to 1986, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of theCato Institute, and professor atGeorge Mason University. (Full article...)

Critique of political economy or simply the firstcritique of economy is a form ofsocial critique that rejects the conventional ways of distributing resources. The critique also rejects what its advocates believe are unrealisticaxioms, flawed historical assumptions, and taking conventional economic mechanisms as a given
or astranshistorical (true for all human societies for all time). The critique asserts the conventional economy is merely one of many types of historically specific ways to distribute resources, which emerged along withmodernity (post-Renaissance Western society).

Critics of political economy do not necessarily aim to create their own theories regarding how to administer economies. Critics of economy commonly view "the economy" as a bundle of concepts and societal and normative practices, rather than being the result of any self-evident economic laws. Hence, they also tend to consider the views which are commonplace within the field of economics as faulty, or simply aspseudoscience. (Full article...)

Johann Heinrich von Thünen (24 June 1783 – 22 September 1850), sometimes spelledThuenen, was a prominent nineteenth-centuryeconomist and a native ofMecklenburg-Strelitz, now in northernGermany.

Even though he never held a professorial position, Thünen had substantial influence on economics. He has been described as one of the founders ofagricultural economics andeconomic geography. He made substantial contributions to economic debates on rent, land use, and wages. (Full article...)

Robert Merton Solow,GCIH (/ˈsoʊloʊ/; August 23, 1924 – December 21, 2023) was an American economist known for his studies ofeconomic growth and the development of theSolow–Swan model, for which he won the 1987Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

He wasInstitute ProfessorEmeritus of Economics at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a professor from 1949 on. He was awarded theJohn Bates Clark Medal in 1961, theNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1987, and thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. Four of his PhD students,George Akerlof,Joseph Stiglitz,Peter Diamond, andWilliam Nordhaus, later received Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences in their own right. (Full article...)

Econometrics is an application ofstatistical methods to economic data in order to giveempirical content to economic relationships. More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economicphenomena based on the concurrent development of theory and observation, related by appropriate methods of inference." An introductoryeconomics textbook describes econometrics as allowing economists "to sift through mountains of data to extract simple relationships."Jan Tinbergen is one of the two founding fathers of econometrics. The other,Ragnar Frisch, also coined the term in the sense in which it is used today.

A basic tool for econometrics is themultiple linear regression model.Econometric theory usesstatistical theory andmathematical statistics to evaluate and develop econometric methods. Econometricians try to findestimators that have desirable statistical properties includingunbiasedness,efficiency, andconsistency.Applied econometrics uses theoretical econometrics and real-worlddata for assessing economic theories, developingeconometric models, analysingeconomic history, andforecasting. (Full article...)

Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13thchairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC.

First nominated to theFederal Reserve by PresidentRonald Reagan in August 1987, Greenspan was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006, after the second-longest tenure in the position, behind onlyWilliam McChesney Martin. PresidentGeorge W. Bush appointedBen Bernanke as his successor.
Greenspan came to theFederal Reserve Board from a consulting career. Although he was subdued in his public appearances, favorable media coverage raised his profile to a point that several observers likened him to a "rock star". Democratic leaders of Congress criticized him for politicizing his office because of his support forSocial Security privatization and tax cuts. (Full article...)

Kenneth Joseph Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, mathematician andpolitical theorist. He received theJohn Bates Clark Medal in 1957, and theNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1972, along withJohn Hicks.

In economics, Arrow was a major figure in postwarneoclassical economic theory. Four of his students (Roger Myerson,Eric Maskin,John Harsanyi, andMichael Spence) went on to become Nobel laureates themselves. His contributions tosocial choice theory, notably his "impossibility theorem", and his work ongeneral equilibrium analysis are significant. His work in many other areas of economics, includingendogenous growth theory andthe economics of information, was also foundational. (Full article...)

Johann Silvio Gesell (German:[ɡəˈzɛl]; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was aGerman-Argentineeconomist,entrepreneur, andsocial reformer. He was the founder ofFreiwirtschaft (German for "free economy"), an economic model formarket socialism. In 1900, he founded the magazineMoney and Land Reform (German:Die Geld- und Bodenreform), but it soon closed for financial reasons. During his time inOranienburg, Gesell started the magazineDer Physiokrat together withGeorge Heinrich Blumenthal. In 1914, it closed due to censorship. In 1916, he published his most famous work,The Natural Economic Order.

Gesell is mainly known for hismonetary theory. In particular, he noted the asymmetry between the durability andhoardability ofmoney and the finiteshelf life of goods and services whichdepreciate due toentropy and the passage of time. He believed that people who are able to save or hoard money have an unfair economic advantage over people who are dependent on producing and selling decayable goods and services for their livelihoods. Gesell theorized that the unfair premium enjoyed by hoarders expressed itself ininterest rates and spawnedrecessions, an argument that later influencedJohn Maynard Keynes's theory ofliquidity preference. To resolve this problem, Gesell proposed a newform of money that depreciates over time (German:Freigeld). (Full article...)

John Bates Clark (January 26, 1847 – March 21, 1938) was an Americanneoclassicaleconomist. He was one of the pioneers of themarginalist revolution and opponent to theInstitutionalist school of economics, and spent most of his career as aprofessor atColumbia University. He was one of the most prominent American economists of his time. (Full article...)

Frank Hyneman Knight (November 7, 1885 – April 15, 1972) was an Americaneconomist who spent most of his career at theUniversity of Chicago, where he became one of the founders of theChicago School.

Nobel laureatesMilton Friedman,George Stigler andJames M. Buchanan were all students of Knight at Chicago.Ronald Coase said that Knight, without teaching him, was a major influence on his thinking.F.A. Hayek considered Knight to be one of the major figures in preserving and promotingclassical liberal thought in the twentieth century. (Full article...)

Socialist economics comprises the economic theories, practices and norms of hypothetical and existingsocialisteconomic systems. A socialist economic system is characterized bysocial ownership and operation of themeans of production that may take the form of autonomouscooperatives or directpublic ownership wherein production is carried outdirectly for use rather thanfor profit. Socialist systems that utilizemarkets for allocatingcapital goods andfactors of production among economic units are designatedmarket socialism. Whenplanning is utilized, the economic system is designated as a socialist planned economy. Non-market forms of socialism usually include a system of accounting based oncalculation-in-kind tovalue resources and goods.

Socialist economics has been associated with differentschools of economic thought.Marxian economics provided a foundation for socialism based on analysis of capitalism whileneoclassical economics andevolutionary economics provided comprehensive models of socialism. During the 20th century, proposals and models for both socialistplanned andmarket economies were based heavily on neoclassical economics or a synthesis of neoclassical economics with Marxian orinstitutional economics. (Full article...)