ECON 191 Economic Thought of Nobel Prize Winners
| ECON 191 (Fall 2026) |
Understanding the Socratic Seminar Format
Prize Winners' Lectures, Biographies, and Supplemental Reading
Main Nobel Laureate Website
Week 1: Introduction and Micro Foundations
Week 2: Nonmarket Behavior
Week 4: Information
Week 5: Labor Markets
Week 6: Game Theory
Week 8: Macro Foundations
Week 9: Phillips Curve Debate
Week 10: Growth Theory
Week 11: International Trade
Week 13: Political Economy
Week 14: Development
Week 15: Institutional
Week 16: Experimental
Week 1: Introduction and Micro Foundations
- Kenneth J. Arrow (1972)
- Arrow, Kenneth J. "Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care." The American Economic Review, 53(5), 1963, pp. 941-973.
- John R. Hicks (1972)
Week 2: Nonmarket Behavior
- Ronald H. Coase (1991)
- Gary Becker (1992)
- Hidden Giant: Margaret Reid
- Forget, Evelyn L. 2023. "Retrospectives: Margaret Reid, Chicago, and Permanent Income." Journal of Economic Perspectives 37 (4): 251–64.
Week 4: Information
- George J. Stigler (1982)
- George Akerlof (2001)
- Akerlof, George A. "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 1970, pp. 488-500.
Week 5: Labor Markets
- Christopher A. Pissarides (2010)
- Claudia Goldin (2023)
- Nobel Lecture: "An Evolving Economic Force"
- Nobel Lecture: "An Evolving Economic Force"
- Hidden Giant: Linda Datcher Loury
- "Some Contacts Are More Equal Than Others: Informal Networks, Job Tenure, and Wages." Journal of Labor Economics, 24(2), 2006: 299-318.
Week 6: Game Theory
Week 8: Macro Foundations
- Paul A. Samuelson (1970)
- Milton Friedman (1976)
- Hidden Giant: Joan Robinson
- "The Production Function and the Theory of Capital." The Review of Economic Studies, 21(2), 1953: 81-106.
Week 9: Phillips Curve Debate
Week 10: Growth Theory
Week 11: International Trade
Week 13: Political Economy
- Friedrich von Hayek (1974)
- James M. Buchanan, Jr. (1986)
- Hidden Giant: Sadie T.M. Alexander
- Banks, Nina. 2008. “The Black Worker, Economic Justice and the Speeches of Sadie T.M. Alexander.” Review of Social Economy 66(2): 139–61.
Week 14: Development
- Amartya Sen (1998)
- Angus Deaton (2015)
- Hidden Giant: Ester Boserup
- Ester Boserup, 1975. "The Impact of Population Growth on Agricultural Output," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 89 (2): 257–270.
Week 15: Institutional
Week 16: Experimental
Optional: Explanatory Videos
Instructor's Note: I may add articles to this page over the course of the semester. I will notify users that content has changed and will also mention the update in class.
Week 1: Micro Foundations
Week 2: Nonmarket Behavior
Week 6: Game Theory
Week 9: The Phillips Curve Debate
Week 13: Political Economy
Week 1: Micro Foundations
- Hicksian Demand (optional)
- Arrow's Impossibility Theorem (optional)
Week 2: Nonmarket Behavior
- Coase, Ronald. "The Nature of the Firm." Economica, 4(16), 1937, pp. 386-405.
Week 6: Game Theory
- Bayes' Theorem
- Schelling Point: Cooperating Without Communicating
- Game Theory 101: Focal Points (YouTube)
Week 9: The Phillips Curve Debate
- The Phillips Curve may be broken for good (The Economist)
- Why does low unemployment no longer lift inflation? (The Economist)
Week 13: Political Economy
- Hayek, F.A. "The Use of Knowledge in Society." The American Economic Review, 35(4), 1945, pp. 519-530.
