Comparing economists is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. There is so much diversity in the topics that they approach, and different approaches that they take. Still, it can be quite fun even if ultimately meaningless.
I started entering all the living economists names that I could think of into Google Trends to see who is the most searched for name at Google in 2011. I think it's an interesting addition to the ways of ranking economists because it shows searches and general awareness. Here are my results:
Top Economists of 2011
1. Paul Krugman, Princeton University (100%, 1)
2. Manmohan Singh, India (85%, 2)
3. Mario Draghi, European Central Bank (60%, NR)
4. Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Board (46%, 3)
5. Amartya Sen, Harvard University (34%, 4)
6. Gloria Arroyo (30%, 16)
7. Alan Greenspan (26%, 5)
7. Nouriel Roubini, New York University (26%, 7)7. Alan Greenspan (26%, 5)
9. Robert Reich, University of California - Berkeley (24%, NR)
9. Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute (24%, 6)
9. Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University (24%, 8)
9. Walter Williams, George Mason University (24%, 9)
13. Mario Monti, Italy (20%, NR)
14. Justin Lin, World Bank (18%, 10)
14. Lawrence Summers, Harvard University (18%, 30)
16. Simon Johnson, M.I.T. (16%, 12)
16. Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University (16%, 12)
17. Robert Lucas, University of Chicago (14%, 30)
18. Peter Diamond, M.I.T. (12%, 20)
18. David Friedman, Santa Clara University (12%, NR)
18. Mervyn King, Bank of England (12%, 12)
18. Robert Merton, M.I.T. (12%, 16)
25. Tyler Cowen, George Mason University (8%, 20)
23. Brad DeLong, University of California, Berkeley (10%, 12)
25. Steven Levitt, University of Chicago (8%, 26)25. Greg Mankiw, Harvard University (8%, 16)
29. Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University / Arizona State University (6%, 20)
29. Michael Spence, Hoover Institute (6%, 30)
A number of economists' names were withdrawn for reasons that they were not their own top google search. Many of these are eminent economic scholars such as John Taylor and Kevin Murphy.
Here is the original 2011 list with additions in the comments section.
Here is the first 2011 list in August, from which the first rankings were made.
