The screenshot on the left - taken within a few hours of the announcement of his death - illustrates quite simply the huge impact Paul Samuelson made on the economics profession throughout the last seventy years. As his New York Times obituary says, he was never as well known by the public as Keynes or Friedman - and had less direct political impact - but he almost forged a whole profession with his establishment of mathematical analysis as the way to do economics [ Update : my mistake, the observation was actually in this Justin Fox article ] This interview with Conor Clarke reveals that his incisiveness and charm was unimpaired right up to this summer. Read it for a flavour of his ideas and personality, but read the obit to learn the scope of his influence. [ Update : Marginal Revolution links to another excellent interview , this one from John Cassidy] ( A curious side note: both of these items mention in passing, but with some admiration, that Samuelson became wealt...
