ABSTRACT
When American economist Paul Samuelson, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize, was asked to name the most influential economists in history, people were not surprised to hear the names of Smith, Mill, Walras, and Keynes. However, when Samuelson included Knut Wicksell (1851-1926) on his list, an obscure Swedish economist, eyebrows were raised and so were questions. Undaunted, Samuelson went on to explain that not only would he include Wicksell in his top ten, but he would even place him in the top four, along with Adam Smith, Leo Walras, and John Maynard Keynes. But who was Knut Wicksell and why was he afforded so much respect by one of his peers? In brief, he was, in the minds of many people, the grandfather of family economics.
