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The Austrian school of economics was well within the mainstream of economic thought into the 1930s. By mid-twentieth century the Austrian school had established a distinct identity, partly because of methodological developments in mainstream economics, but moreso because of its policy conclusions. Austrian school was best known for its claim that rational economic calculation was not possible without markets and market prices, challenging the mainstream view that looked favorably on central economic planning. In addition, the Austrian business cycle theory challenged the Keynesian macroeconomics that dominated macroeconomic thought up through the mid-1970s. While there were methological differences between the Austrian school and the mainstream, these policy differences defined the Austrian episode. By the end of the twentieth century, the Austrian school had won the economic calculation debate, Keynesian macroeconomics had been displaced, and the methodological differences between the Austrian school and the mainstream had narrowed. The Austrian episode had passed. In the twenty-first century, the Austrian school's ideas, still relevant, have been combined with complementary ideas from other heterodox traditions, diminishing the distinctive identity the Austrian school had in the second half of the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a historical review of the evolution of mathematical methods in economics, tracing their development from the earliest attempts in the 18th century to the sophisticated models of the late 20th century. The study begins by examining the initial integration of mathematical techniques into economic thought, highlighting key milestones that shaped the field. Symmetry concepts are naturally embedded in many of these mathematical frameworks, particularly in the balance and equilibrium found in economic models. Symmetry in economics often reflects proportional relationships and equilibrium conditions that are central to both micro- and macroeconomic analyses. Then, the paper elaborates on the progression of economic growth models, including the foundational Solow–Swan model, which introduced the concept of technological progress (knowledge) as a key factor influencing growth. The review also encompasses the Lucas growth model and the Mankiw–Romer–Weil model, both of which incorporate human capital into the growth equation, highlighting its importance in driving economic development. Finally, the paper addresses the Nonneman–Vanhoudt model, which extends the analysis of growth by integrating multiple types of capital, providing a more comprehensive framework for understanding economic dynamics. By documenting these developments, the paper demonstrates the significant role that mathematical modeling has played in advancing economic theory, providing tools to quantitatively analyze complex economic phenomena and driving the discipline towards greater analytical precision and rigor. This analysis emphasizes how symmetry principles, such as balance between inputs and outputs, equilibrium in supply and demand, and proportionality in growth models, underpin many economic theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the commercial revolution of the Middle Ages, the monetisation of economy gave rise to a series of cultural, legal and social challenges to the commonly accepted Aristotelian background. In this dynamic context, new forms of trade and contracts emerged, affecting not only commercial doctrines but also financial theories. In this framework, Franciscan economic speculation played a major role by analysing social realities with an entirely original pragmatism. Through his monetary reflection, Alexander Bonini not only gave a surprising explanation of the 'forms of money' but also praised the activity of the money-changers, considering their service (and related costs) fundamental to the realisation of a common benefit. His thought-provoking synthesis introduced many themes of the modern monetary doctrines. The article contains the first English translation of some crucial passages of the Bonini's treatise On Usury (De Usuris). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the causes and effects of the routine error of inserting the words "as if" into Adam Smith's comments about the invisible hand, rendering his observation that "led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of [our] intention" into the very different assertion that we are led "as if by an invisible hand." Through a consideration of Smith's grammar and style and, most importantly, Smith's comments on rhetorical figures in his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, this paper demonstrates the ways in which this common error betrays Smith's strong opinions about linguistic precision and imports a potentially biased reading of Smith into discussions of these key moments in his texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic history and history of economic thought have had to contend with a crisis of a didactic and scientific nature since the beginning of the shift from a command economy to a free-market system in Poland, and the accompanying legal and constitutional changes have compounded these difficulties. The Law on Higher Education and Science reclassified academic fields and disciplines, with the result that history was placed in the humanities and economics and finance were placed in the social sciences. This paper aims to show the contribution of these two subdisciplines to the development of economics in Poland over the last 30 years. The present authors contend that the waning didactic significance of these two sub-disciplines at economics and history faculties, and the subsequent liquidation or absorption of many university departments devoted to them, has not impeded valuable research in these fields in Poland. The article not only presents the teaching, research and publishing activities of the existing academic institutions and faculties, but also shows the international influence of academicians and their teaching work, and examines the market for textbooks and synthetic works.

Is everything good in political economy incorporated into modern graduate education in economics? With the transition of the art of political economy into the science of economics, there was a significant narrowing of graduate education curriculum. The prevailing technique in economics, a neoclassical framework focusing on formal empirics, gradually compressed artistic components of economics, including philosophical underpinnings, democratic justifiability, theoretical intuition, comparative institutional analysis, and political economy. Courses on the history of economic thought, which historically played a role in introducing graduate students to the complexities of the art of political economy, are now only offered as an elective. This paper argues, however, that there are still insights to be gleaned from studying the classics of political economy in graduate education. We highlight the tradeoff between theoretical cumulativeness and knowledge, arguing that significant insights from historical works of political economy are often absent in contemporary technical expositions of economics. We explore examples of useful knowledge in political economy that was lost in the transition away from the art of political economy. To remain an operationally valid social science, economists should reintroduce the artistic elements of political economy into the graduate training of economists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the historical and philosophical roots of economic thought, drawing connections between the entrepreneurial mindset and the scholastic traditions that have shaped the conceptual landscape of free markets. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the paper examines how religious and scholastic influences have contributed to the development of economic ideas, providing a nuanced understanding of the ethical dimensions inherent in entrepreneurial endeavors. By unraveling the threads that connect entrepreneurship, prayer, and scholasticism, this paper also seeks to illuminate the symbiotic relationship between faith, intellectual heritage, and the principles that underpin free-market economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekonomista is the property of Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne & Institute of Economic Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is no Milton Friedman today. There is unlikely to be another Milton Friedman tomorrow. And that is OK. Indeed, it is a product of the progress Friedman and others have made to advance the cause of limited government and free exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses late 1960s' and early 1970s' policy debate on issues concerning balance of payments in Sweden. Part of this debate was the question of fiscal austerity as a tool to achieve external balance, and if it could be used without risking economic and social unrest. The aim is twofold: first to empirically shine new light on modern Swedish economic policy in a historic context. Second to theoretically explore new ways of interpreting the relationship between political thinking and economic ideas. Special focus within the second aim are the consequences of political thinking on Keynesian economic ideas as a framework of economic understanding at the time. The study is qualitative in its methods and pays attention to limits within the relationship between economic policymaking and economic expertise. The article highlights conflicting perspectives on Keynesian ideas and the heterogeneity of these perspectives among economic experts. A heterogeneity of this kind is also shown to complicate the assumed close relationship between Social Democracy and Keynesianism in a historic context. In essence, the article shows that studying policy debates in close historic detail makes for new conclusions on the development of modern economic ideas and the part political thinking plays in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-examines the origins of the Life-Cycle Hypothesis (LCH) originally formulated by Modigliani and Brumberg seventy years ago, using a combination of historical and archival analysis. The study compares Modigliani's own account of the LCH with a range of other sources, including papers presented at the Conference on Savings in 1952, contemporary literature, and PhD dissertations of Hamburger and Brumberg. The analysis reveals that the idea of the LCH was somehow "in the air" in the early 1950s, although Modigliani-Brumberg's formulation represents an ingenious theoretically-founded and empirically-testable formalisation of such a framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, schools of economic thought have defined political economy—or economics—and its object of study in multiple ways. This paper reflects on the definitions of economics by schools of economic thought and also proposes the concepts of value and scarcity as key concepts to explain the differences between them. The most important findings of the paper are: (a) the ontological and epistemological characteristics of the concept of value and scarcity have shaped the definitions of economics; (b) the boundaries of the study object of economics have been expanded since today's mainstream economics deals with multiple topics as diverse as crime, education, development, health, etc. However, the methodological tools used in mainstream economics have been narrowed since approaches such as the philosophical, ethical, historical, and institutional approaches have been left behind; (c) the part of reality that mainstream economics can grasp have left behind important issues of the contemporary world, such as gender, social, and environmental issues. A clear understanding of the scope and boundaries of economics could help to define more realistic research questions for economic science, and it would help to define new economic paradigms that address the contemporary issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Francis Ysidro Edgeworth's unduly neglected monograph New and Old Methods of Ethics (1877) advances a highly sophisticated and mathematized account of social well-being in the utilitarian tradition of his 19th-century contemporaries. This article illustrates how his usage of the 'calculus of variations' was combined with findings from empirical psychology and economic theory to construct a consequentialist axiological framework. A conclusion is drawn that Edgeworth is a methodological predecessor to several important methods, ideas, and issues that continue to be discussed in contemporary social well-being studies. • Provides an account of Francis Ysidro Edgeworth's psychological and economic views, and how his interlocutors influenced him. • Discusses his methodology in the monograph New and Old Methods of Ethics. • Illustrates his usage of mathematical methods in physics for the application of social well-being research. • Contributes to the history of well-being research by way of 1870's economic thinking. • Present methods and issues in social well-being methodology have precedent in the 1870's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 20th century, municipal housekeeping became popular as a natural science-based endeavour focused on the improvement of living conditions in urban areas, especially in terms of public sanitation, water quality, satisfaction of basic needs, and access to natural amenities. It has been well documented in social history as a movement led by middle-class women advocating for higher standards of public health and social order in American cities. This article explores another dimension of municipal housekeeping: its contributions to economic thought and how it amounted to an early economics of the urban environment. It analyses the relationship between municipal housekeeping and other important economic currents, such as home economics and conservation economics, before shedding light on the economic content of its proposals regarding sanitation, community welfare, and public utility regulations. It concludes that municipal housekeeping, rather than a merely derivative intellectual current, constitutes an original source of inspiration for public and particularly environmental economists interested in intersections with the tenets of the natural sciences, from chemistry to ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lumina (0123-4072) is the property of Universidad de Manizales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cuadernos del CEMYR is the property of Cuadernos del CEMYR (Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de La Laguna) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hungarian A hazai és a nemzetközi tudományos közéletben is megkerülhetetlen Adam Smith munkássága. Leszámítva néhány szakértőt az írástudó közönség is csak egyet, jobb esetben kettőt ismer: A nemzetek gazdagságát és Az erkölcsi érzelmek elméletét. Smith munkássága ennél azonban sokkal szélesebb volt, közöttük is fontos szerepet töltött be a levelezés. Jelen tanulmány egy sorozat első része, amiben Smith érdekes leveleit, egyéb írásait mutatjuk be. English Adam Smith's contributions are indispensable to both the domestic and international scholarly communities. However, beyond a limited number of specialists, the educated public is generally familiar with only one or, at most, two of his works: The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Nevertheless, Smith's oeuvre extends significantly beyond these seminal texts, with his correspondence occupying a particularly important role. This paper marks the beginning of a series dedicated to the examination of Smith's intriguing letters and other lesser-known writings.

This paper offers a historical review of the evolution of mathematical methods in economics, tracing their development from the earliest attempts in the 18th century to the sophisticated models of the late 20th century. The study begins by examining the initial integration of mathematical techniques into economic thought, highlighting key milestones that shaped the field. Symmetry concepts are naturally embedded in many of these mathematical frameworks, particularly in the balance and equilibrium found in economic models. Symmetry in economics often reflects proportional relationships and equilibrium conditions that are central to both micro- and macroeconomic analyses. Then, the paper elaborates on the progression of economic growth models, including the foundational Solow–Swan model, which introduced the concept of technological progress (knowledge) as a key factor influencing growth. The review also encompasses the Lucas growth model and the Mankiw–Romer–Weil model, both of which incorporate human capital into the growth equation, highlighting its importance in driving economic development. Finally, the paper addresses the Nonneman–Vanhoudt model, which extends the analysis of growth by integrating multiple types of capital, providing a more comprehensive framework for understanding economic dynamics. By documenting these developments, the paper demonstrates the significant role that mathematical modeling has played in advancing economic theory, providing tools to quantitatively analyze complex economic phenomena and driving the discipline towards greater analytical precision and rigor. This analysis emphasizes how symmetry principles, such as balance between inputs and outputs, equilibrium in supply and demand, and proportionality in growth models, underpin many economic theories.

The paper explores the historical and philosophical roots of economic thought, drawing connections between the entrepreneurial mindset and the scholastic traditions that have shaped the conceptual landscape of free markets. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the paper examines how religious and scholastic influences have contributed to the development of economic ideas, providing a nuanced understanding of the ethical dimensions inherent in entrepreneurial endeavors. By unraveling the threads that connect entrepreneurship, prayer, and scholasticism, this paper also seeks to illuminate the symbiotic relationship between faith, intellectual heritage, and the principles that underpin free-market economies.

To deliver low-carbon transitions, we must understand the dynamics of capital. To this end, I develop a theory of energy-capital relations by reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations from an energy-analysis perspective. I argue that, for Smith, capital is any resource used to support production with the intention of generating profits through market exchange. In The Wealth of Nations, capital enables access to new sources of energy and increases energy efficiency. This theory of energy-capital relations explains trends seen in historical energy data: because it is profit driven, capital does not save energy, it redirects it to new uses. This suggests that low-carbon investment can only enable a low-carbon transition if coupled to a systematic challenge to the profit drive.JEL Classification: B12, O44, P18, Q43, Q57 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]