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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | John Ryskamp |
| Abstract: | This paper examines 'natural' mathematics--developed to counter perceived paradoxes in early twentieth-century set theory--as an internally consistent unifying factor in the arguments of several disciplines, including economics (Sraffa), physics (Einstein), biology (Kimura), and mathematics (Godel). |
| Keywords: | Sraffa,Marx,set theory, mathematics, natural mathematics |
| JEL: | B |
| Date: | 2005–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpmh:0509003&r=hpe |
| By: | Altug Yalcintas (Ankara University Turkey); Arjo Klamer (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Have you ever thought of virtues? Temperance, Courage, Justice, Hope, and Love, just to name a few. And, have you ever thought that they could have anything to do with economics? Economists have long ago separated the moral philosophy (ethics) and the science of choice (economics) from each other. They have supposed that economic transactions – producing goods, exchanging them in the market, and eventually consuming them – are entirely independent from the human condition. Deirdre McCloskey, a famous Chicago economist and historian, is now facing the issue in her forthcoming book: capitalism would turn into a disaster if we were to follow economists and put all our faith and hope on Prudence Alone. It can only be rescued if we are able to think capitalism in the light of “Bourgeois Virtues,” as she calls them. True, the name “bourgeoisie” has got a bad connotation in contemporary Holland. The situation is not so different in many other industrial societies. But it was the virtuous attitude of Dutch merchants in the 17th century that made Holland prosperous. Before reaching any conclusions we do better entering into the discussion with McCloskey and recover the language of virtues that will enable us to assess the moral conditions of modern economic societies. |
| Keywords: | bourgeois virtues, virtue ethics, Simon Schama, Deirdre McCloskey |
| JEL: | N |
| Date: | 2005–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpmh:0509002&r=hpe |
| By: | Frank Beckenbach (Department of Economics, University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Novelty creating processes have been mainly analysed in a 'post-revelation' situation and by taking a meso (or even macro) level perspective. One reason for this might be a methodological caveat according to which firstly the novelty creating process (henceforth: ncp) is totally conjectural without anything to generalize and secondly the results of a ncp can not be anticipated leaving only room for some after-the-fact-analysis on a more or less aggregated level. Without denying these assumptions the following considerations assume that it is worthwhile to analyse the ncp from a microeconomic perspective including 'prerevelation' situations. The subject matter of such an analysis is constituted by the following components: - the triggering conditions for ncps, - the constraints for ncps, - the expectations of agents/agencies promoting ncps, - the heuristics for ncps and finally - the processing of the ncps themselves. In this article I will deal with these topics by proceeding in the following manner: (1) I discuss the shortcomings of the usual analysis of ncp in evolutionary economics and pick up some hints of the cognitive sciences to overcome these conceptual shortcomings (section II). (2) I try to combine stylised facts of the microeconomic analysis of ncps with conceptual ideas about a cognitive architecture of agents and knowledge networks for getting a modelling framework. (3) I will present some preliminary simulation results for parts of this simulation model (section III). |
| Date: | 2005–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kas:wpaper:2005-75&r=hpe |
| By: | Siven, Claes-Henric (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | The first part of the paper surveys the discussion of monetary equilibrium by Wicksell, Lindahl, Myrdal, Ohlin and Palander. In the second part a number of analytical aspects of monetary equilibrium are discussed: The formulation of the first equilibrium condition in terms of prices instead of in terms of quantities; The interpretation of the second equilibrium condition as equality between saving and investments; What was the exact interpretation of the rate of interest as a monetary phenomenon; The economic interpretation of a gap between the natural and the loan rate of interest; and the use of equilibrium and disequilibrium analysis. |
| Keywords: | Monetary equilibrium; Monetary theory; Wicksell; Myrdal |
| JEL: | B22 B30 E40 |
| Date: | 2005–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2005_0007&r=hpe |