ECONOMISTS from Switzerland

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swiss Economists of all time. This list of famous Swiss Economists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi (1773 - 1842)

With an HPI of 61.13, Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi is the most famous Swiss Economist.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.

Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, also known as Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi, (French: [ʒɑ̃ ʃaʁl leɔnaʁ də sismɔ̃di]; 9 May 1773 – 25 June 1842), whose real surname was Simonde, was a Swiss historian and political economist, who is best known for his works on French and Italian history, and his economic ideas. His Nouveaux principes d'économie politique, ou de la richesse dans ses rapports avec la population (1819) represents the first liberal critique of laissez-faire economics. He was one of the pioneering advocates of unemployment insurance, sickness benefits, a progressive tax, regulation of working hours, and a pension scheme. He was also the first to coin the term proletariat to refer to the working class created under capitalism, and his discussion of mieux value anticipates the concept of surplus value. According to Gareth Stedman Jones, "much of what Sismondi wrote became part of the standard repertoire of socialist criticism of modern industry," earning him critical commentary in the Communist Manifesto.

2. Corinne Maier (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 39.33, Corinne Maier is the 2nd most famous Swiss Economist.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Corinne Maier (born 7 December 1963) is a Swiss-born, French psychoanalyst, economist, and best-selling writer. She is best known for being the author of Bonjour paresse, a cynical critique of French corporate culture. In 2016, Maier was named as one of the BBC 100 Women.