The Worldly Philosophers – the better half

Yesterday’s post on the women problem in economics prompted a comment asking who would be included in a female version of Robert Heilbroner’s classic [amazon_link id=”0140290060″ target=”_blank” ]The Worldly Philosophers[/amazon_link]. A Twitter conversation later, here is my curated version of the suggestions.

Harriet Martineau

[amazon_image id=”0875802923″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Writings on Slavery and the American Civil War[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”0253340713″ target=”_blank” ]Harriet Taylor[/amazon_link]

[amazon_image id=”0253333938″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Complete Works of Harriet Taylor Mill[/amazon_image]

Clara Collet

[amazon_image id=”1103312634″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Educated Working Women: Essays on the Economic Position of Women Workers in the Middle Classes[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”0245545395″ target=”_blank” ]Rosa Luxembourg[/amazon_link]

[amazon_image id=”1931859361″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Essential Rosa Luxemburg: Reform or Revolution and the Mass Strike[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”0044408722″ target=”_blank” ]Beatrice Webb[/amazon_link]

[amazon_image id=”0521297311″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]My Apprenticeship[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”1849664684″ target=”_blank” ]Barbara Wootton[/amazon_link]

[amazon_image id=”B002B5X2MK” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Social Science and Social Pathology [By] Barbara Wootton, Assisted by Vera G. Seal and Rosalind Chambers[/amazon_image]

Joan Robinson

[amazon_image id=”B00I70KLUY” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Accumulation of Capital (Palgrave Classics in Economics)[/amazon_image]

Phyllis Deane

[amazon_image id=”B00425W4WG” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The First Industrial Revolution. Second Edition.[/amazon_image]

Anna Schwartz

[amazon_image id=”0691137943″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Great Contraction, 1929-1933 (Princeton Classic Editions)[/amazon_image]

Elinor Ostrom

[amazon_image id=”0521405998″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)[/amazon_image]

There were also Twitter suggestions about women economists living and working now, including: Anne Kruger, Dambisa Moyo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Emily Oster, Esther Duflo, Helene Rey, Deirdre McCloskey. But I can think of many others and I think a Worldly Philosophers-type collection would need to stop short of modern times. One needs a bit of hindsight to judge lasting influence, although I’m sure many of those on the list will qualify in time.