As selected by
3000 Prospect magazine readers:
1. Thomas Piketty (Author, Capital in the 21st Century)
2. Yanis Varoufakis (Greek finance minister)
3. Naomi Klein (Author, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies)
4. Russell Brand (Comedian)
5. Paul Krugman (Economist)
6. Arundhati Roy (Author, God of Small Things)
7. Juergen Habermas (Sociologist )
8. Daniel Kahnemann (Psychologist, author, Thinking Fast and Slow)
9. John Gray (Political philosopher)
10. Atul Gawande (Surgeon, New Yorker writer)
Rest of top 50:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
11. Robert Lanza, biologist
12. Hilary Mantel, novelist/essayist
13. Anne Applebaum, journalist
14. Rebecca Solnit, writer/feminist
15. Mona Eltahawy, feminist Muslim
16. David Chalmers, philosopher
17. Reza Aslan, historian of religion
18. Henry Kissinger, writer/diplomat
19. Winnie Byanyima, human rights activist
20. Mario Vargas Llosa, writer and politician
21. Tyler Cowen, economist
22. Lee Smolin, physicist
23. Linda Scott, economist
24. Michel Houellebecq, novelist
25. Elizabeth Blackburn, biologist/bioethicist
26. Edward Witten, physicist
27. Marilynne Robinson, novelist/essayist
28. Esther Duflo, economist
29. Robert Shiller, economist
30. Jeremy Rifkin, social theorist
30. Evgeny Morozov, writer/tech theorist
32. Joshua Wong, activist
33. Pankaj Mishra, writer/journalist
34. Paul Collier
35. Andrew Sullivan, writer/journalist
36. Anat Admati, economist
37. Diane Coyle, economist
38. Pia Mancini, digital activist
39. Cody Wilson, libertarian theorist/activist
39. John Goldthorpe, sociologist
41. Binyavanga Wainaina, writer/activist
42. Christopher Clark, historian
43. Linda Colley, historian
44. Jean Tirole, economist
45. Mao Yushi, economist
45. Greg Mankiw, economist
47. Danielle Keats Citron, privacy advocate
48. Bruce Katz, policy adviser/academic
49. Robert Plomin, psychologist
50. Gilles Kepel, political scientist