William Forsyth Sharpe (born June 16, 1934) is the STANCO 25 Professor of Financ e, Emeritus at Stanford University's Graduate

School of Business and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was one of the originators of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, created the Sh arpe ratio for risk-adjusted investment performance analysis, contributed to the development of the binomial method for the valuation of optio ns, the gradient method for asset allocation optimization, and returns-based style analysis for evaluating the style and performance of investm ent funds. Irving Fisher (February 27, 1867 April 29, 1947) was an American economist, inve ntor, and social campaigner. He was one of the earliest American neoclassical ec onomists, though his later work on debt deflation has been embraced by the PostKeynesian school.[1] Fisher made important contributions to utility theory and general equilibrium.[2 ][3] He was also a pioneer in the rigurous study of intertemporal choice in mark ets, which led him to develop a theory of capital and interest rates.[4] His res earch on the quantity theory of money inaugurated the school of macroeconomic th ought known as "monetarism."[5] Both James Tobin[4] and Milton Friedman[6] calle d Fisher "the greatest economist the United States has ever produced." Franco Modigliani (Italian pronunciation: ['fra?ko modi?'?ani]; June 18, 1918 Se ptember 25, 2003) was an Italian economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT Department of Economics, and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Econ omics in 1985.Along with Merton Miller, he formulated the important Modigliani Mil ler theorem in corporate finance. This theorem demonstrated that under certain a ssumptions, the value of a firm is not affected by whether it is financed by equ ity (selling shares) or debt (borrowing money).He was also the originator of the life-cycle hypothesis, which attempts to explain the level of saving in the eco nomy. Modigliani proposed that consumers would aim for a stable level of consump tion throughout their lifetime, for example by saving during their working years and spending during their retirement. Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, ForMemRS, FBA (born February 9, 1943) is an American eco nomist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Me morial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979). He is also the former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Ban k. He is known for his critical view of the management of globalization, free-ma rket economists (whom he calls "free market fundamentalists") and some internati onal institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes,[1] CB FBA ( /'ke?nz/ kaynz; 5 June 1883 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the the ory and practice of modern macroeconomics, and informed the economic policies of governments. He refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles, and advo cated the use of fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the adverse effects of economic recessions and depressions. Keynes is widely considered to be one of t he founders of modern macroeconomics, and the most influential economist of the 20th century.[2][3][4][5] His ideas are the basis for the school of thought know n as Keynesian economics, as well as its various offshoots. Eugene Francis "Gene" Fama (born February 14, 1939) is an American economist, kn own for his work on portfolio theory and asset pricing, both theoretical and emp irical. He is currently Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of F inance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Harry Max Markowitz (born August 24, 1927) is an American economist and a recipi ent of the John von Neumann Theory Prize and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economi c Sciences. Markowitz is a professor of finance at the Rady School of Management at the Univ

ersity of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is best known for his pioneering work in Modern Portfolio Theory, studying the effects of asset risk, return, correla tion and diversification on probable investment portfolio returns. Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 November 16, 2006) was an American economist, sta tistician, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than thre e decades. He was a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and is known for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theo ry, and the complexity of stabilization policy.[1] As a leader of the Chicago sc hool of economics, he influenced the research agenda of the economics profession . A survey of economists ranked Friedman as the second most popular economist of the twentieth century behind John Maynard Keynes,[2] and The Economist describe d him as "the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century po ssibly of all of it. Adam Smith (5 June 1723 17 July 1790) was a Scottish social philosopher and a pi oneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment ,[1] Smith is the author of The Principles Which Lead and Direct Philosophical E nquiries, Illustrated by the History of Astronomy, prior to 1758, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759, and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is c onsidered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. Smith is cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism and is still among the most in fluential thinkers in the field of economics today.