Off the top of our heads, anyone of us can name a dozen
philosophers, a score of scientists, and a gross of politicians. But
when asked to name a handful of famous economists, most people come up
empty.
I feel like our disinterest in economists and economics has
much to do with how little is understood about economics on the
popular stage: what is its history, who are the major players and are
we even certain as to what, exactly, economics is?
In an effort to peak your interest, flesh out the subject,
make it relevant and give some background and context, here's a few
major fields and names you should know.
Financial Economists – These guys study how wealth is created,
transacted, grown and destroyed. It's important to note they are
ultimately interested in wealth and not money (wealth being things
with real value, like education, health or security, and money being
just a facilitator in transacting and securing wealth). Financial
economists figure out how to make intangible advantages (like equity
or certainty in an asset) into tangible holdings, trade those holdings
with someone you've never met on the other side of the world, and then
transforming it all back to its original form. It's about what money
actually represents rather than about money itself.
Zvi Bodie (See link)
Milton Friedman (See link)
Irving Fisher (See link)
Agricultural/Environmental Economists – Minute by minute, mankind's
population increases exponentially, but our natural resources have
failed to keep up with our explosive growth. How do you provide for
our infinitely expanding population when the staples of survival are
so finite? Who has "too much," who has "too little," and how should
we define "the right amount"?
There's two surefire ways to starve to death: work the land
too much, until your fields are barren, or don't work them enough and
come up short on food. Agricultural and environmental economists try
to find for us that vital balance.
Thomas Malthus (See link)
Arthur Pigouv (See link)
Ronald Coase (See link)
See more and view links at:
http://economystified.blogspot.com/2011/05/economics-comes-in-all-shapes-and-sizes.html
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