Favorite Economists, Economics Journals, and Economics Blogs

The latest issue of Econ Journal Watch reports the results of a survey of American economists, where a random sample were asked to list their three favorite economists before 1900, their three favorite deceased 20th century economists, their three favorite living economists over sixty, and their three favorite economists under 60. In addition, they were asked to list their three favorite journals and their three favorite economics blogs. All respondents were tenured or tenure-track professors at American universities, and the total number of respondents was 299. So, who were the winners?

Economists before 1900: Adam Smith (1), David Ricardo (2), and Alfred Marshall (3).

Deceased 20th century economists: John Maynard Keynes (1), Milton Friedman (2), and Paul Samuelson (3).

Living economists over 60: Gary Becker (1), Kenneth Arrow (2), and Robert Solow (3).

Living economists under 60: Paul Krugman (I can’t believe this but, yes, he is the gold medalist), Greg Mankiw (2), and Daron Acemoglu (3).

Favorite economics journals: American Economic Review (1), Journal of Economic Perspectives (2), and Journal of Political Economy (3).

Favorite economics blogs: Greg Mankiw (1), Marginal Revolution (2), and Paul Krugman (3 [unfortunately]).

If you’re curious, below are my rankings, with survey ranks in parentheses:

1: Adam Smith (1), Carl Menger (12), and Alfred Marshall (3).

2: Friedrich Hayek (4), Ludwig Lachmann (-), and Joseph Schumpeter (5).

3: Douglass North (11), Ronald Coase (4), and Brian Loasby (-).

4: Certainly not Krugman, but other than that I think we need to wait and see.

5: Journal of Institutional Economics (-), Journal of Law and Economics(-),  and Public Choice (20).

6: Coordination Problem (8), Think Markets (-), and Marginal Revolution (2).

I doubt if my preferences surprise anyone as much as I was surprised by the popularity of Paul Krugman (he was mentioned by 60 of the 299 economists, with the runner-up (Greg Mankiw) only garnering 22 votes).

Source: Davis, W.L., B. Figgins, D. Hedengren, and D.B. Klein (2011), “Economics Professors’ Favorite Economic Thinkers, Journals and Blogs (along with Party and Policy Views),” Econ Journal Watch, 8(2): 126-146.