A-Z of Economists Useful for Impressing in your A2 Economics Papers _________________________________________________________________________________ Economist Key Topic Area Key Insights Relevant to your A2 Macro Institutional failures are a key barrier to development, Acemoglu Institutions extractive elites can take most of the resource rents (Daron) causing high inequality Getting the right incentives to provide and fund Becker (Gary) Human capital improved human capital is key to raising productivity and driving innovation Has written extensively on traps” and the “development Development Collier (Paul) policies best suited for nations to avoid the natural traps, aid et al resource curse Randomized controlled trials can help increase the Duflo (Esther) Behavioural effectiveness of aid projects introduced at a micro level in poor communities The Easterlin paradox is that in many countries, incomes Easterlin Living Standards rising above a certain threshold bring no significant gain (Richard) in happiness High inequality can damage growth e.g. status races to – Inequality and Frank (Robert) consume goods” is an inefficient use of “positional economic growth scarce resources His work focuses on factors that the long run Agglomeration Glaeser (Ed) expansion and success of cities urbanization as a – economies driver of development Information and Countries grow rich by increasing computational Hidalgo (Cesar) network capacity and building networks of individuals to create economics new products Kuznets Curve illustrates how higher income – Kuznets (Simon) Standard of living inequality and environmental damage might be reversed as nations grow Developing countries may see surplus labour flowing Lewis Turning Lewis (Arthur) from rural to urban areas diminish lead to rising wages – Point and unit costs Devised conditions under which an optimal currency Mundell Currency unions area might be created focusing on the need for real – (Robert) economic convergence Developed understanding of strategies in games – Nash (John Game Theory applied at macro for example in understanding Forbes) trade/protectionist disputes Addressed how communities could create rules of social Ostrom (Elinor) Social capital behaviour to overcome the tragedy of the commons
A-Z of Economists Useful for Impressing in your A2 Economics Papers _________________________________________________________________________________ Economist Key Topic Area Key Insights Relevant to your A2 Macro Acemoglu (Daron) Institutions Institutional failures are a key barrier to development, extractive elites can take most of the resource rents causing high inequality Becker (Gary) Human capital Getting the right incentives to provide and fund improved human capital is key to raising productivity and driving innovation Collier (Paul) Development traps, aid et al Has written extensively on “development traps” and the policies best suited for nations to avoid the natural resource curse Duflo (Esther) Behavioural Randomized controlled trials can help increase the effectiveness of aid projects introduced at a micro level in poor communities Easterlin (Richard) Living Standards The Easterlin paradox is that in many countries, incomes rising above a certain threshold bring no significant gain in happiness Frank (Robert) Inequality and economic growth High inequality can damage growth – e.g. status races to consume “positional goods” is an inefficient use of scarce resources Glaeser (Ed) Agglomeration economies His work focuses on factors that the long run expansion and success of cities – urbanization as a driver of development Hidalgo (Cesar) Information and network economics Countries grow rich by increasing computational capacity and building networks of individuals to create new products Kuznets (Simon) Standard of living Kuznets Curve – illustrates how higher income inequality and environmental damage might be reversed as nations grow Lewis (Arthur) Lewis Turning Point Developing countries may see surplus labour flowing from rural to urban areas diminish – lead to rising wages and unit costs Mundell (Robert) Currency unions Devised conditions under which an optimal currency area might be created – focusing on the need for real economic convergence Nash (John Forbes) Game Theory Developed understanding of strategies in games – applied at macro for example in understanding trade/protectionist disputes Ostrom (Elinor) Social capital Addressed how communities could create rules of social behaviour to overcome the tragedy of the commons
AZ_Economists_A2_Macro.docx