Thomas Piketty and Russell Brand named among the world’s top 10 “thinkers”
It seems Russell Brand's lectures about the many advantages of not voting were more than just the fevered rantings of a "pound shop Ben Elton". The comedian-cum-"revolutionary" has just been listed among the world's top 10 world thinkers.
It turns out someone's actually taking him seriously… even though it wasn't that long ago that the public said he was worse than Jeremy Clarkson for political debate.
The list, voted for by 3,000 Prospect magazine readers, is largely dominated by left-leaning pundits, including Thomas Piketty, whose book, Capital in the 21st Century, divided economists last year, and new Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
Conspicuous by their absence this year are economists Raghuram Rajan and Kaushik Basu. In their place, said Prospect, are thinkers who are "wrestling, in different ways, with the dysfunctions of what some persist in calling the 'developed world'".
As with last year, the list contains just two women, anti-globalisation author Naomi Klein and author Arundhati Roy.
Got ideas for a Morning Wire top 10? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
| Rank | Name | Known for |
| 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 |