Category: Fact Files
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Milton Friedman
Supporter of the Chicago School and avid monetarist, Friedman was one of the most influential modern economists whose ideas are still in use today. Early Life Friedman was born July 31, 1912, in New York. He lived in Brooklyn with his parents, working-class Jewish immigrants, and Friedman was their fourth child and only son. Shortly…
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John Maynard Keynes
Keynesian economics and the idea of spending more when times get rough Early Life John Maynard Keynes was born in 1883 in Cambridge to a very academic upper-middle-class family. His father was an economist and lecturer in moral sciences at Cambridge University. His mother was a local social reformer who went on to be the…
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Friedrich Hayek
The beginning of the Austrian School of thought and the rejection of government intervention Early Life Hayek was born in Vienna in 1899 to medical doctor August von Hayek, who also gave lectures on botany part-time at the University of Vienna. His father’s career as a university professor and both his grandfathers as scholars greatly…
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Karl Marx
The founding father of communism and creator of the command economy Early Life Karl Marx was born in 1818 in the town of Trier in Germany to a Jewish family. However, the family were only Jewish by name, as they were fairly non-religious, even when converting to Christianity in Marx’s early childhood. His father was…
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Adam Smith
The father of economics and creator of the free market model Early Life Although his exact date of birth is unknown, Adam Smith was baptised on the 5th of June, 1723, so this is often treated as his birthday. He was born in Scotland in the seaside town of Kircaldy with the same name as…
Economics 101 