AMHERST — University of Massachusetts Amherst economist Isabella Weber has been named to the 2023 “TIME100 Next” list of emerging leaders from around the world. Weber is known internationally for her research on systemically important prices, strategic price stabilization and what she calls “sellers’ inflation” — the ability of firms with market power to hike prices and boost profits in an emergency.
Weber, an associate professor of economics, first gained international attention in late 2021 when she authored an op-ed for The Guardian explaining how the history of strategic price controls could inform the fight against inflation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, her intervention sharply divided the economic community and Weber faced a wave of blistering online harassment.
However, as inflation persisted and it became clear after the Russian attack on Ukraine that inflation could not be stabilized by increasing interest rates alone, many critics eventually came to embrace Weber’s views. Ultimately, her policy proposals informed Germany’s gas price stabilization policy and her contributions helped shift the inflation debate, as chronicled in The New Yorker.
An expansion of the TIME100 list of the most influential people in the world, TIME100 Next highlights 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, health, science, activism and more. The full list and related tributes appear in the Sept. 25 issue.