They created the neoclassical synthesis, which combined Keynes with mathematical economics. In 1937 John Hicks mathematized The General Theory with the investment/savings-liquidity/money (IS-LM) model. Alvin Hansen extended Hicks work when he helped draft the US Employment Act of 1946, creating the Council of Economic Advisers. Ever since, credentialed economists sit at the right hand of the US president, close to the highest seat of power, a privilege they share with generals. Stanford economist Edward Lazear, chairman of George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, wrote in an article called "Economic Imperialism" that economics is "not only a social science, it is a genuine science." The **chief architect** of the neo-Keynesians was MIT's **Paul Samuelson**. He published his Harvard PhD dissertation in 1947 as the *Foundations of Economic Analysis*, followed by *Economics*, which became one of the best-selling Econ 101 textbooks of all time. By the 1970s, the neo-Keynesians dominated the economics establishment, by any measure of success – textbook sales, economic department heads, or White House appointments. The first 5 Nobel memorial prizes in economics went to neo-Keynesians. 1969 - Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen 1970 - Paul Samuelson 1971 - Simon Kuznets 1972 - John Hicks 1973 - Wassily Leontief This was broken by Gunnar Myrdal, a Swedish economist, who shared the spotlight in 1974 with Friedrich Hayek. When Milton Friedman was awarded the Nobel 2 years later, Myrdal called for the abolition of the memorial Nobel, calling economics a soft science because of its "unsophisticated approach and the confused admixture of science and politics." --- Source: [[Reference Notes/The Progress Illusion|The Progress Illusion]]