MIT Department of Economics
The MIT Department of Economics is a department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Undergraduate studies in economics were introduced in the 19th century by institute president Francis Amasa Walker, while the department's Ph.D. program was introduced in 1941. It is one of the "big five" schools in the field along with the faculties at the University of Chicago, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. The American Economics Association estimates that MIT and these peers produce half of all tenure track professors at U.S. research universities. By 2018, the department has the highest number of 11 Ph.D. alumni who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in the world, followed by Harvard Economics and UChicago Economics. Seven out of 15 Clark medalists since 1999 received Ph.D. degrees from the department.
Prominent faculty
- Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize, 1970
- Franco Modigliani, Nobel Prize, 1985
- John Williamson, originator of the 'Washington Consensus'
- Robert Solow, Nobel Prize, 1987
- Stanley Fischer,, Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Governor of Bank of Israel
- Robert F. Engle,, Nobel Prize, 2003
- Daniel McFadden,, Nobel Prize 2000
- George P. Shultz,, Former Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Labour
- Myron S. Scholes, Nobel prize in 1997 for the Black-Scholes equation
- Rudi Dornbusch, known for the Overshooting Model
- Francesco Giavazzi
Nobel Laureates
- Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, 2019
- William Nordhaus, 2018
- Bengt Holmstrom, 2016
- Jean Tirole, 2014
- Robert J. Shiller, 2013
- Peter A. Diamond, 2010
- Oliver E. Williamson, 2009
- Paul Krugman, 2008
- Eric Maskin, 2007
- Edmund Phelps, 2006
- Robert J. Aumann, 2005
- Robert F. Engle, 2003
- George Akerlof and Joseph Stiglitz, 2001
- Daniel McFadden, 2000
- Robert Mundell, 1999
- Amartya Sen, 1998
- Robert C. Merton, 1997
- Robert Solow, 1987
- Franco Modigliani, 1985
- Lawrence Klein, 1980
- Paul Samuelson, 1970
Current Faculty
Professors
- Alberto Abadie
- Daron Acemoglu
- George-Marios Angeletos
- Joshua Angrist
- David Autor
- Abhijit Banerjee
- Ricardo J. Caballero
- Victor Chernozhukov
- Arnaud Costinot
- Esther Duflo
- Glenn Ellison
- Amy Finkelstein
- Drew Fudenberg
- Robert S. Gibbons
- Jonathan Gruber
- Jeffrey Harris
- Bengt R. Holmström
- Whitney K. Newey
- Benjamin Olken
- Parag Pathak
- James M. Poterba
- Drazen Prelec
- Nancy Rose
- Robert M. Townsend
- John Van Reenen
- Iván Werning
- Michael Whinston
- Alexander Wolitzky
- Muhamet Yildiz
Associate Professors
- Anna Mikusheva
- Alp Simsek
- Heidi Williams
Assistant Professors
- Nikhil Agarwal
- Isiah Andrews
- David Atkin
- Frank Schilbach
Senior Lecturer
- Sara Fisher Ellison
Professors Emeriti
- Morris Adelman
- Sidney Alexander
- Robert L. Bishop
- Olivier Blanchard
- Richard S. Eckaus
- Peter A. Diamond
- Stanley Fischer
- Franklin M. Fisher
- Paul Joskow
- Michael Piore
- Jerome Rothenberg
- Richard L. Schmalensee
- Paul Samuelson
- Abraham J. Seigel
- Robert Solow
- Peter Temin
- William Wheaton
Affiliated Faculty
- Mathias Dewatripont
- Ernst Fehr
- Jean Tirole
Former Faculty
- Susan Athey John Bates Clark Medal, 2007
- E. Cary Brown Professor of Economics, Emeritus
- Evsey Domar
- Rudi Dornbusch Ford International Professor, International Economics
- Robert F. Engle
- Stanley Fischer
- Charles P. Kindleberger Ford International Professor of Economics, Emeritus
- Edwin Kuh
- Paul Krugman John Bates Clark Medal, 1991
- Eric Maskin
- Daniel McFadden
- Franco Modigliani Institute Professor Emeritus; Professor of Finance & Economics
- George P. Shultz
- Hal Varian
Notable alumni
- Lawrence R. Klein John Bates Clark Medalist, 1959; President of the Econometric Society, 1960; President of the American Economic Association, 1977; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 1980
- Margaret Garritsen de Vries Carolyn Shaw Bell Award Recipient, 2002
- George P. Shultz Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2004
- Ronald W. Jones Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2009
- William Nordhaus, Council of Economic Advisers 1977 - 1979
- Mario Draghi Governor of the Banca d'Italia, Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum, President of the European Central Bank
- Robert A. Mundell Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 1996; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 1999
- Peter A. Diamond President of the Econometric Society, 1991; President of the American Economic Association, 2003; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2010
- Riccardo Faini,, Former Head of the Economic and Financial Analysis Service of the Italian Ministry of Treasury
- George A. Akerlof Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2001; President of the American Economic Association, 2006
- Joseph E. Stiglitz John Bates Clark Medalist, 1979; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2001
- Jagdish N. Bhagwati Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2003
- Robert E. Hall President of the American Economic Association, 2010
- William D. Nordhaus Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1977–1979; Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2004; President of the American Economic Association, 2014; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2018
- Avinash K. Dixit President of the Econometric Society, 2001; President of the American Economic Association, 2008
- Robert J. Gordon Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2014
- Michael Rothschild, Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2005
- Stanley Fischer Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Governor of the Bank of Israel; Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2013
- Robert C. Merton President of the American Finance Association, 1986; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 1997
- Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa,, European Central Bank Executive Board 1998-2005, Former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance
- Jeremy J. Siegel financial markets guru
- Martin Neil Baily Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1999–2001
- Alan S. Blinder Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2011
- Robert J. Shiller Fellow of the American Finance Association, 2006; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2013
- Lawrence Summers Secretary of the Treasury, 1999–2001
- Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank 2011-, Governor of the Banca d'Italia, Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum
- Paul R. Krugman Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1982–1983; John Bates Clark Medalist, 1991; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2008
- Lucas Papademos Vice President of the European Central Bank, 2002-
- Ben S. Bernanke Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 2006-2014
- Kenneth S. Rogoff IMF Chief Economist
- Jean Tirole President of the Econometric Society, 1998; President of the European Economic Association, 2001; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2014
- N. Gregory Mankiw Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2003–2005
- Andrei Shleifer John Bates Clark Medalist, 1999
- Matthew Rabin John Bates Clark Medalist, 2001
- Andrew Samwick Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2003–2004
- Judith Chevalier Elaine Bennett Research Prize recipient, 1998
- Steven D. Levitt John Bates Clark Medalist, 2003; co-author of Freakonomics
- Emmanuel Saez John Bates Clark Medalist, 2009
- Esther Duflo, John Bates Clark Medalist, 2010; Elaine Bennett Research Prize recipient, 2002; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2019; co-author Poor Economics
- Jonathan Levin John Bates Clark Medalist, 2011
- Amy Finkelstein John Bates Clark Medalist, 2012; Elaine Bennett Research Prize recipient, 2008