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. In 2020, the department launched a master's program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, which is jointly run with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. By 2020, the department has the second highest number of Ph.D. alumni who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in the world (12) only behind Harvard Economics (13) and ahead of UChicago Economics (9). Nine out of 18 Clark medalists since 1999 received Ph.D. degrees from the department.

History In the 1890s, economists including Francis Amasa Walker and Davis Rich Dewey taught courses in economics to the undergraduate students. It was known as the Department of Economics and Social Sciences (1932). In 1937, the department established a graduate program, while in 1941, it established a Ph.D. program. In the 1950s and the 1960s, the department expanded its graduate program. In these years, the program became more quantitatively oriented and emphasized technical training. Approximately 25 students enrolled each year. In the 1970s, the first Black American graduate students joined the program as part of a desegregation program.

Prominent faculty Paul Samuelson (1940–2009), Nobel Prize, 1970 Franco Modigliani (1962–2003), Nobel Prize, 1985 John Williamson (1967–1980), originator of the 'Washington Consensus' Robert Solow, (1960–1979) Nobel Prize, 1987 Stanley Fischer, (1977–1988), Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Governor of Bank of Israel Robert F. Engle, (1969-1977), Nobel Prize, 2003 Daniel McFadden, (1977–1991), Nobel Prize, 2000 George P. Shultz, (1948–1957), Former Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Labor Myron S. Scholes (1968–1973), Nobel prize in 1997 for the Black-Scholes equation Rudi Dornbusch (1975–2002), known for the Overshooting Model

Nobel Laureates Among the department's past and current faculty and alumni are several recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics: Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, 2024 Joshua Angrist, 2021 Esther Duflo (Ph.D., 1999) 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 (Ph.D., 1977), 2008 Eric Maskin, 2007 Edmund Phelps, 2006 Robert J. Aumann, 2005 Robert F. Engle, 2003 George Akerlof (Ph.D., 1966) and Joseph Stiglitz (Ph.D., 1967), 2001 Daniel McFadden, 2000 Robert Mundell (Ph.D., 1956), 1999 Amartya Sen, 1998 Robert C. Merton (Ph.D, 1970), 1997 Robert Solow, 1987 Franco Modigliani, 1985 Lawrence Klein (Ph.D., 1944), 1980 Paul Samuelson, 1970

Current Faculty Professors Alberto Abadie Isaiah Andrews Daron Acemoglu George-Marios Angeletos Joshua Angrist David Autor Abhijit Banerjee Ricardo J. Caballero Victor Chernozhukov Arnaud Costinot Esther Duflo Glenn Ellison [past Department Head] Amy Finkelstein Drew Fudenberg Robert S. Gibbons Jonathan Gruber [current Department Head] Jeffrey Harris Bengt R. Holmström [past Department Head] Whitney K. Newey Benjamin Olken Parag Pathak James M. Poterba [past Department Head] Drazen Prelec Nancy Rose [past Department Head] Robert M. Townsend John Van Reenen Iván Werning Michael Whinston

Associate Professors

Anna Mikusheva

Professors Emeriti Sidney Alexander Olivier Blanchard Richard S. Eckaus [past Department Head] Peter A. Diamond [past Department Head] Stanley Fischer [past Department Head] Paul Joskow [past Department Head] Richard L. Schmalensee Robert Solow Peter Temin [past Department Head]

Affiliated Faculty Mathias Dewatripont Ernst Fehr Jean Tirole

Former Faculty Susan Athey (Ph.D., Stanford) John Bates Clark Medal, 2007 E. Cary Brown (Ph.D., Harvard) Professor of Economics, Emeritus Evsey Domar (Ph.D., Harvard) Rudi Dornbusch (Ph.D., Chicago) Ford International Professor, International Economics Robert F. Engle (Ph.D., Cornell) Stanley Fischer (Ph.D., MIT) Charles P. Kindleberger (Ph.D., Columbia) Ford International Professor of Economics, Emeritus Edwin Kuh (Ph.D., Harvard) Paul Krugman (Ph.D., MIT) John Bates Clark Medal, 1991 Eric Maskin (Ph.D., Harvard) Daniel McFadden (Ph.D., Minnesota) Franco Modigliani (D.Jur., Rome and D.Soc.Sci., The New School for Social Research) Institute Professor Emeritus; Professor of Finance & Economics George P. Shultz (Ph.D., MIT) Hal Varian (Ph.D., Berkeley)

Notable alumni Lawrence R. Klein (Ph.D., 1944) 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 (Ph.D., 1946) Carolyn Shaw Bell Award Recipient, 2002 George P. Shultz (Ph.D., 1949) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2004 Ronald W. Jones (Ph.D., 1956) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2009 William Nordhaus (Ph.D., 1967), Council of Economic Advisers 1977 - 1979 Mario Draghi (Ph.D., 1976) Governor of the Banca d'Italia, chairman of the Financial Stability Forum, president of the European Central Bank Robert A. Mundell (Ph.D., 1956) 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 (Ph.D., 1963) 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, (PhD), former head of the Economic and Financial Analysis Service of the Italian Ministry of Treasury George A. Akerlof (Ph.D., 1966) 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 (Ph.D., 1966) John Bates Clark Medalist, 1979; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2001 Jagdish N. Bhagwati (Ph.D., 1967) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2003 Robert E. Hall (Ph.D., 1967) president of the American Economic Association, 2010 William D. Nordhaus (Ph.D., 1967) 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 (Ph.D., 1968) president of the Econometric Society, 2001; president of the American Economic Association, 2008 Robert J. Gordon (Ph.D., 1967) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2014 Michael Rothschild, (Ph.D., 1968) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2005 Stanley Fischer (Ph.D., 1969) Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Governor of the Bank of Israel; Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2013 Robert C. Merton (Ph.D., 1970) 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, (M.Sc. 1970), European Central Bank executive board 1998-2005, former Italian minister of economy and finance Jeremy J. Siegel (Ph.D., 1971) financial markets guru Martin Neil Baily (Ph.D., 1972) Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1999–2001 Alan S. Blinder (Ph.D., 1971) Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, 2011 Robert J. Shiller (Ph.D., 1972) Fellow of the American Finance Association, 2006; Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 2013 Lawrence Summers (B.S., 1975) Secretary of the Treasury, 1999–2001 Mario Draghi (Ph.D., 1976) president of the European Central Bank 2011-, Governor of the Banca d'Italia, Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum Paul R. Krugman (Ph.D., 1977) 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 (Ph.D., 1977) vice president of the European Central Bank, 2002- Ben S. Bernanke (Ph.D., 1979) Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 2006-2014 Frederic S. Mishkin (B.S., 1973, Ph.D., 1976) Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, 2006-2008 Kenneth S. Rogoff (Ph.D., 1980) IMF chief economist Jean Tirole (Ph.D., 1981) 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 (Ph.D., 1984) Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2003–2005 Andrei Shleifer (Ph.D., 1986) John Bates Clark Medalist, 1999 Matthew Rabin (Ph.D., 1989) John Bates Clark Medalist, 2001 Andrew Samwick (Ph.D., 1993) Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2003–2004 Judith Chevalier (Ph.D., 1993) Elaine Bennett Research Prize recipient, 1998 Steven D. Levitt (Ph.D., 1994) John Bates Clark Medalist, 2003; co-author of Freakonomics Emmanuel Saez (Ph.D., 1999) John Bates Clark Medalist, 2009 Esther Duflo (Ph.D. 1999), 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 (Ph.D., 1999) John Bates Clark Medalist, 2011 Amy Finkelstein (Ph.D., 2001) John Bates Clark Medalist, 2012; Elaine Bennett Research Prize recipient, 2008

References

External links MIT Department of Economics website