(Here are the Top Economists of 2012)
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.
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 the results:
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| Paul Krugman (photo: Cory Doctorow) |
rank. name, affiliation (relative percent to top score, ranking last year)
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)
18. Robert Lucas, University of Chicago (14%, 30)
19. Peter Diamond, M.I.T. (12%, 20)
19. David Friedman, Santa Clara University (12%, NR)
19. Mervyn King, Bank of England (12%, 12)
19. Robert Merton, M.I.T. (12%, 16)
23. Brad DeLong, University of California, Berkeley (10%, 12)
25. Tyler Cowen, George Mason University (8%, 20)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A number of economists were withdrawn because they were not their top Google search. The best example of this is John B. Taylor of Stanford University who also shares the same name with a former NFL player and a member of rock group Duran Duran. Others include, Robert Hall, Robert Lawrence, Peter Phillips, James Hamilton, Kevin Murphy, and James Robinson.
EDIT: As a commenter noticed, Robert Merton is now at M.I.T. and I switched that. I appreciate everyone adding new economists that I did not think of, this can be considered my selection bias. I'll leave them in the comments this year, but I will make sure to include them in my calculations next year. Please keep them coming.
EDIT: As a commenter noticed, Robert Merton is now at M.I.T. and I switched that. I appreciate everyone adding new economists that I did not think of, this can be considered my selection bias. I'll leave them in the comments this year, but I will make sure to include them in my calculations next year. Please keep them coming.
