Rankings / Candidate
Jagdish Bhagwati
Columbia University · Trade
Photo: Johannes Jansson, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons
Currently #11, tier Field, score 14.3, named by 1 source.Score history: 100.0, 25.0, 14.3
The work. Trade theory and trade policy: immiserizing growth, directly unproductive profit-seeking, and decades of arguing for free trade against both protectionists and preferential deals.
The case for. He is the most cited trade economist never to win, and a public intellectual whose defense of globalization defined the argument for a generation.
The case against. Born 1934. Krugman took the trade prize in 2008 and the committee has shown little appetite for returning to classic trade theory.
The KmikeyM angle. Bhagwati's "directly unproductive profit-seeking" describes lobbying for rents instead of producing anything. A shareholder who lobbies Mike for a vote outcome instead of buying shares is doing exactly that.
What the sources say
- Clarivate alumni (prior years) named Jagdish Bhagwati: named in 2006: for their significant contributions to international trade theory and economic development (heat 100) Preseason: the Clarivate alumni pool