Economists from United States

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Economists of all time. This list of famous American Economists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Economists.

1. #1

   

   Herbert A. Simon

   1916 - 2001

   HPI 80.1862 languages

   Herbert A. Simon is most famous for his work in artificial intelligence, economics, and political science.

2. #2

   

   Milton Friedman

   1912 - 2006

   HPI 77.3997 languages

   Milton Friedman is most famous for his work on the causes of the Great Depression and the policies that were put in place to combat it.

3. #3

   

   George Shultz

   1920 - 2021

   HPI 76.0744 languages

   American economist, statesman, businessman, and former Secretary of Labor, Treasury, and State

4. #4

   

   William F. Sharpe

   b. 1934

   HPI 74.3250 languages

   American economist

5. #5

   

   Robert Lucas Jr.

   1937 - 2023

   HPI 74.0550 languages

   Robert Lucas Jr. is most famous for his work on the neoclassical model of economic growth.

6. #6

   

   Paul Samuelson

   1915 - 2009

   HPI 74.0180 languages

   Paul Samuelson is most famous for his work in economic theory. He was the first person to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1970.

7. #7

   

   Joseph Stiglitz

   b. 1943

   HPI 73.6368 languages

   Joseph Stiglitz is an economist who is most famous for his work in the fields of macroeconomics and international trade. He has served as the Chief Economist of the World Bank, a Professor at Stanford University, and a professor at Columbia University.

8. #8

   

   Elinor Ostrom

   1933 - 2012

   HPI 73.3079 languages

   Elinor Ostrom is most famous for her work in the field of political economy, specifically in the study of economic governance. She is best known for her research on how communities can manage common resources, such as forests, fish, and water, without resorting to the use of government regulation.

9. #9

   

   Charles Cooley

   1864 - 1929

   HPI 73.1930 languages

   Cooley was most famous for his theory of the looking-glass self. He believed that people develop their sense of self by observing others and reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings.

10. #10

    

    Michael Porter

    b. 1947

    HPI 72.8435 languages

    Michael Porter is most famous for his five forces model, which is a framework for analyzing the competitive intensity of an industry. The five forces are: threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, and rivalry among existing competitors.