Great Thinkers

Meet the great minds whose ideas have shaped the world — philosophers, scientists, artists, leaders, and revolutionaries whose thinking still matters today.

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16 thinkers
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Subject: Economics × Research skills ×
Economics
Angus Deaton
born 1945 · United Kingdom
Angus Deaton is an economist. He was born in 1945 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was a coal miner who valued education highly. Deaton won…
Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Problem solving +1
"Life is better now than at almost any time in history, but this is a story with two sides."
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Economics
Arthur Lewis
1915-1991 · Saint Lucia
Arthur Lewis was an economist. He was born in 1915 on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, which was then a British colony. His parents…
Critical thinking Problem solving Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge."
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Economics
Claudia Goldin
1946-present · United States
Claudia Goldin is an American economist and economic historian. In 2023, she won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, becoming the first woman to win…
Critical thinking Research skills Scientific thinking Ethical thinking +1
"I have always thought of myself as a detective."
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Economics
Dambisa Moyo
born 1969 · Zambia
Dambisa Moyo is an economist and writer. She was born in 1969 in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, in southern Africa. She spent part of…
Critical thinking Problem solving Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing…"
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Economics
Esther Duflo
1972-present · France / United States
Esther Duflo is a French-American economist. In 2019 she became, at age 46, the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic…
Scientific thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"It is not the magnitude of the problem that determines whether we can do something about it."
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Economics
Friedrich Hayek
1899-1992 · Austria
Friedrich Hayek was an economist and political thinker. He was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1899 and died in 1992. His full name was Friedrich…
Critical thinking Problem solving Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"The curious task of economics is to show men how little they really know about what they imagine they can…"
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Economics
Ha-Joon Chang
born 1963 · South Korea
Ha-Joon Chang is a South Korean economist. He was born in 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up during a remarkable period in his…
Critical thinking Creative expression Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The free market doesn't exist. Every market has some rules and boundaries that restrict freedom of choice."
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Economics
Jeffrey Sachs
born 1954 · United States
Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist. He was born in 1954 in Detroit, in the United States. He studied economics at Harvard University, where he…
Problem solving Ethical thinking Critical thinking Research skills +1
"Extreme poverty can be ended, not in the time of our grandchildren, but in our own time."
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Economics
Joan Robinson
1903 - 1983 · United Kingdom
Joan Robinson was a British economist. She was one of the most important economists of the 20th century. Many people think she should have won…
Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all."
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Economics
John Kenneth Galbraith
1908-2006 · Canada / United States
John Kenneth Galbraith was an economist and writer. He was born in 1908 on a farm in Ontario, Canada, and died in 2006. He later…
Critical thinking Creative expression Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"Wealth is not without its advantages, and the case to the contrary, although it has often been made, has never…"
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Economics
Karl Marx
1818-1883 · Germany / England
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German economist, philosopher, historian, and political thinker whose ideas have shaped the modern world more than almost any other thinker…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."
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Economics
Mariana Mazzucato
born 1968 · Italy / United States
Mariana Mazzucato is an economist. She was born in Rome, Italy, in 1968. Her father was a physicist, and when she was a child the…
Critical thinking Problem solving Research skills Creative expression +1
"History tells us that innovation is an outcome of a massive collective effort, not just from a narrow group of…"
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Economics
Michael Porter
b. 1947 · United States
Michael Eugene Porter (born 1947) is an American academic whose work on competitive strategy, national competitiveness, and the economic analysis of healthcare and social problems…
Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
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Economics
Milton Friedman
1912-2006 · United States
Milton Friedman was an American economist. He was born in New York City in 1912 and died in 2006. His parents were poor immigrants from…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Problem solving Research skills +1
"There is no such thing as a free lunch."
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Economics
Thomas Piketty
born 1971 · France
Thomas Piketty is a French economist. He was born in 1971 near Paris. He studied mathematics and economics, and earned his doctorate at just 22…
Critical thinking Research skills Problem solving Ethical thinking +1
"The history of inequality is shaped by the way economic, social, and political actors view what is just and what…"
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Economics
Thorstein Veblen
1857-1929 · United States
Thorstein Veblen was an American economist and social thinker. He was born in 1857 in Wisconsin and died in 1929. His parents were immigrants from…
Critical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure."
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