Impactful Academic Journal Articles in Economics Since 1940

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The speaker highlights the influence of academic journal articles in economics, particularly in the field of finance. Paul Samuelson's article on the random walk hypothesis, and Kenneth Arrow's work on securities and state prices are noted as top tier. The speaker acknowledges the success and impact of financial economics, suggesting that it deserves more attention and possibly its own book. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) articles and portfolio theory are also recognized as significant contributions in the field of economics.

Who is the greatest economist of all time? In Tyler Cowen's eclectic view, you need both breadth and depth, macro and micro. You can't have been too wrong--and you need to be mostly right. You have to have had a lasting impact, and done both theory and empirical work. If you meet all these criteria, you may just be history's greatest economist. Listen as Cowen talks about his new and freely accessible book GOAT with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Along the way to crowning a winner, Cowen offers original insights into what shaped the theories and worldviews of the greatest economists of all time. Cowen and Roberts also talk about the evolution of economics from a field concerned mainly with ideas to one that mostly grapples with empirical challenges.