Dambisa Moyo

In this speech, Dr. Dambisa Moyo outlines the life and work of the seven greatest economists, their key ideas, and the importance of their ideas for the future of the global economy:

• Adam Smith’s The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
• Thomas Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle of Population
• David Ricardo’s On The Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation
• Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto & Das Kapital
• John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
• Joseph Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
• Friedrich von Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom

Economic thinking of these seven economists has underpinned the global economic progress of the past two centuries; from agrarian local economies to today’s US$100 trillion global economy.

This year marks 250 years since the United States declared independence, and 250 years since the publication of The Wealth of Nations by the “Father of Economics,” Adam Smith. In an era of heightened economic uncertainty, geopolitical conflicts, and social instability, now is the time to analyze, the veracity and relevance of the most important ideas that have governed the global economy for the past 250 years. We must, as a society, interrogate the extent to which these ideas remain relevant to our future.