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Where Wealth Comes From

52 figures · 6 eras · From the Silk Road to Bitcoin — a map of merchants, economists, and financiers

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Those Who Made Wealth FlowTrade Routes, Money & Banking11Zhang Qian, Marco Polo, the Medici — opening routes, inventing credit, lending to kings
🐫Zhang QianZhang QianHan diplomat, the man who "pierced open" the Silk Road
🧭Marco PoloMarco PoloVenetian merchant and traveler, teller of The Travels of Marco Polo
⛵Zheng HeZheng HeMing navigator, commander of the seven voyages to the Western Ocean
🏦The MediciCosimo de’ MediciFlorentine banking family, financiers of the Renaissance
💰Jacob FuggerJacob FuggerGerman banker, the financial titan "rich as a state"
🪙CroesusCroesusKing of Lydia, one of the first to strike metal coinage
⚜️Jacques CœurJacques CœurGreat merchant of medieval France, "the king’s purse"
🎈John LawJohn LawPioneer of paper money and central banking, author of the "Mississippi Bubble"
⚖️Thomas GreshamThomas GreshamEnglish financier, namesake of "bad money drives out good"
💰Fan LiFan LiChina’s "Sage of Commerce," the legendary merchant who retired at his height
📈Bai GuiBai GuiGreat merchant of the Warring States, "forefather of commercial theory"
The First to Read "Where Wealth Comes From"The Birth of Economics14Guan Zhong, Adam Smith, Ricardo — turning "the invisible hand" into a discipline
🧮Guan ZhongGuan ZhongChancellor of Qi in the Spring and Autumn era, the earliest economic statesman
📊Wang AnshiWang AnshiNorthern Song reformer, driver of the "Wang Anshi Reforms"
✋Adam SmithAdam SmithThe "father of economics," author of The Wealth of Nations
⚖️David RicardoDavid RicardoClassical economist, author of the theory of comparative advantage
📉Thomas MalthusThomas MalthusClassical economist, author of An Essay on the Principle of Population
🧂Sang HongyangSang HongyangFinancial statesman of the Han, operator of the "salt and iron monopoly"
⚓Thomas MunThomas MunChampion of mercantilism, advocate of the "trade surplus" theory
📐William PettyWilliam Petty"Father of political economy," pioneer of measuring the state by numbers
🌾François QuesnayFrançois QuesnayFounder of the Physiocrats, author of the Tableau Économique
🔁Jean-Baptiste SayJean-Baptiste SayFrench classical economist, author of "Say’s law"
📊William Stanley JevonsWilliam Stanley JevonsOne of the three of the "marginal revolution," who rewrote economics with mathematics
🇦🇹Carl MengerCarl MengerFounder of the Austrian School, one of the three of the "marginal revolution"
⚖️Léon WalrasLéon WalrasFounder of "general equilibrium" theory, father of mathematical economics
✂️Alfred MarshallAlfred MarshallGreat synthesizer of neoclassical economics, teacher of Keynes
Those Who Argued Over Markets for a CenturyCritics & the Macro Debate13Marx, Keynes, Hayek — should the market be tamed or set free?
⚒️Karl MarxKarl MarxAuthor of Capital, the most profound critic of capitalism
🌪️Joseph SchumpeterJoseph SchumpeterEconomist, author of "creative destruction"
🏛️John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard KeynesFather of macroeconomics, champion of the "visible hand"
🕊️Friedrich HayekFriedrich HayekStandard-bearer of the Austrian School, defender of the free market
💵Milton FriedmanMilton FriedmanLeader of monetarism, standard-bearer of the free market
💎Thorstein VeblenThorstein VeblenFounder of institutional economics, author of "conspicuous consumption"
💲Irving FisherIrving FisherAmerican master of monetary theory, synthesizer of the quantity theory of money
🏭Arthur Cecil PigouArthur Cecil PigouFather of welfare economics, founder of the concept of "externality"
📘Paul SamuelsonPaul SamuelsonIntegrator of modern economics, first American Nobel laureate in the field
🛒John Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth GalbraithAuthor of The Affluent Society, popular public intellectual
📉Hyman MinskyHyman MinskyAuthor of the "financial instability hypothesis," prophet of crisis
♀️Joan RobinsonJoan RobinsonLeading Cambridge Keynesian, the most important woman economist of the 20th century
📚Thomas PikettyThomas PikettyAuthor of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, standard-bearer of inequality research
Those Who Made Money Beget MoneyCapital & Finance14Rothschild, Morgan, Buffett — remaking the world with capital, investment, and credit
🛡️The RothschildsRothschildEuropean banking dynasty, pioneers of cross-border finance
🏛️J. P. MorganJ. P. MorganAmerican financial titan, the "banker’s banker"
🛢️John D. RockefellerJohn D. RockefellerThe "oil king," founder of Standard Oil
📈Benjamin GrahamBenjamin GrahamThe "father of value investing," author of The Intelligent Investor
🪙Warren BuffettWarren BuffettThe "Oracle," the great synthesizer of value investing
₿Satoshi NakamotoSatoshi NakamotoCreator of Bitcoin, whose identity remains a mystery
🚂Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt"Shipping and railroad tycoon," pathbreaker of America’s Gilded Age
🏗️Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie"King of Steel," a philanthropic giant who gave his fortune away
🃏Jay GouldJay GouldThe most infamous speculator and "robber baron" of the Gilded Age
🖤Hetty GreenHetty Green"The Witch of Wall Street," America’s richest and most miserly woman
💷George SorosGeorge Soros"The Man Who Broke the Bank of England," legend of the macro hedge fund
🧠Charlie MungerCharlie MungerBuffett’s golden partner, advocate of "multiple mental models"
📉John BogleJohn BogleFather of the index fund, a revolutionary who fought for the ordinary investor
🛢️J. Paul GettyJ. Paul Getty"Oil tycoon," once the richest man in the world