Some Developments in Economic Theory Since 1940: An Eyewitness Account

2010 ◽  
pp. 4-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Arrow
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Economics Of Information ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Eyewitness Account ◽  
Theory Uncertainty ◽  
Professional Formation

The article considers the evolution of some branches of modern economic theory from the perspective of the authors biography as a scientist and his professional formation. It describes problems of econometrics, general equilibrium theory, uncertainty, economics of information, and growth. It is shown how different authors representing various fields came to similar conclusions simultaneously and independently, what were the problems, in response to which economists of the second half of last century developed their theories, and what were the contexts of such development.

Spatial Nonconvexities

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Mullally ◽  
G J Papageorgiou
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Competitive Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Transportation Costs ◽  
Partial Equilibrium ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Geographic Setting

Modern economic theory has experienced a persistent shift away from partial equilibrium modelling and towards the theory of general competitive equilibrium. Spatial economic analysis, however, has by and large remained rooted in the older approach. This conservatism may be explained in part by the stringently aspatial manner in which general equilibrium theory is conventionally expressed. This paper attempts to redress this imbalance by considering general equilibrium in an explicitly geographic setting. In this particular context, space manifests itself primarily through transportation costs, and the major concern is to ascertain the pattern of transportation costs which the axioms of general equilibrium theory imply.

Economic theory in an imperfect world: Frank Hahn, general equilibrium, and Keynesian economics

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 1091-1107
Author(s):  
Roger E Backhouse
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Keynesian Economics ◽  
Milton Friedman ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

Abstract Frank Hahn was both a Keynesian economist, active in policy debates, and an economic theorist. Placing his work in the context of attempts to make theoretical sense of Keynesian economics, this article explores the way Hahn used abstract general equilibrium theory to draw conclusions relevant to policy in an ‘imperfect’ world that does not conform to the assumptions made in the theory. Hahn’s rigorous approach to theorizing as the route to understanding is assessed in relation to the different approaches of Robert Lucas, Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson and Axel Leijonhufvud.

Hicks on Economic Theory in Time

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Allgoewer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Economic Modeling ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory

John Richard Hicks is famous for the contributions to general equilibrium theory and welfare economics that earned him the Nobel Prize in 1972 and for his interpretation of John Maynard Keynes's General Theory (1936). Hicks made these pathbreaking contributions to economic modeling in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Following Axel Leijonhufvud's classification (1984, p. 28), these are the works of “Hicks the Younger.” “Hicks the Elder” formulated “Some Questions of Time in Economics” (Hicks 1976). There he refers to theories that adequately incorporate aspects of time as “economic theory in time” in contrast to “economic theory out of time.” Hicks argues that for the theory of capital and the theory of markets this distinction is of greatest importance (ibid., p. 139).

scholarly journals Accounting and its Relationship to General Equilibrium Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Shubik
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Price System ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Price Formation ◽  
Microeconomic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory

Abstract Accounting both for macro and microeconomic purposes deals with process and dynamics. Much of the best microeconomic theory has dealt only with statics. General equilibrium theory shows the virtues of a price system, but abstracts from price formation and all of the accounting problems which appear in disequilibrium. An approach is suggested here for reconciliation of accounting with general equilibrium. More generally, it is suggested that the importance of accounting to economic theory has been underestimated.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship and Equilibrium

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Tang ◽  
Walter Block ◽  
David Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Market Mechanism ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Equilibrium Concept ◽  
Policy Makers

Neoclassic economic theory regards equilibrium, whether general or partial, as a crucially important foundation of the dismal science[1]. In the view of mainstream economists, the general equilibrium framework not only an investigation of the economy in terms of its perfect qualities, but also is suitable as an end or goal of action. The Austrian school, in contrast, sees equilibrium (or the evenly rotating economy - ERE) merely as a tendency for economic activities to move us in that direction, but it is never attained. Praxeological economics has thus concentrated not on equilibrium, but on the process by which the market moves toward it. Since the process of shifting resources to meet these ends cannot be achieved spontaneously, entrepreneurship plays a key role. In Mises and Rothbard’s view, entrepreneurship involves uncertainty bearing which beyond the alertness emphasized by Hayek and Kirzner; on the other hand, unlike Lachmann looks the economy as a kaleidoscope and rejects the ERE, Mises and Rothbard regard the ERE as an indispensable way to understand the economy.   [1] As Frank H. Hahn said “Whatever economics is used or thought about, equilibrium is a central organizing concept.” (Hahn 1984: 43). Many economists and philosophers of science consider mathematical neoclassical general equilibrium theory as one of the peak achievements of economics (Rosenberg, 1992). Tieben (2012) stated that policy-makers and theorists of all schools of economics all use some form of equilibrium theory to develop their ideas and support their main theoretical and political claims. Lawson (2005) indicated that the equilibrium concept is a major cause of controversy between different schools of economic thought. A.W. Bob Coats even deems it the case that “economics has been dominated throughout its history by a single paradigm – the theory of economic equilibrium via the market mechanism.” (Coats 1969: 292).

scholarly journals The Past, Present, and Future of Macroeconomic Forecasting

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis X Diebold
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Reduced Form ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Macroeconomic Forecasting ◽  
The Past ◽  
Keynesian Theory ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic

Broadly defined, macroeconomic forecasting is alive and well. Nonstructural forecasting, which is based largely on reduced-form correlations, has always been well and continues to improve. Structural forecasting, which aligns itself with economic theory and hence rises and falls with theory, receded following the decline of Keynesian theory. In recent years, however, powerful new dynamic stochastic general equilibrium theory has been developed and structural macroeconomic forecasting is poised for resurgence.

scholarly journals Elucidating the intellectual origin of Walras's General Equilibrium Theory

Impact ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-81
Author(s):  
Kayoko Misaki
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Mathematical Form ◽  
General Equilibrium Theory

Léon Walras was a French economist who pioneered the development of general equilibrium theory in a mathematical form. Walras' work has inspired economic theory over the last century but, as with any historical publication, the understanding of it is not without its challenges. Professor Kayoko Misaki, based within the Faculty of Economics at Shiga University in Japan, is working to elucidate the intellectual origin of Walras's general equilibrium theory by using the original texts within which he conceived his ideas.

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