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2012 HES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS DOES THE VICTOR ENJOY THE SPOILS? PAUL SAMUELSON AS HISTORIAN OF ECONOMICS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2013

PHILIP MIROWSKI
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Abstract

This Presidential Address revisits Paul Samuelson’s views on the history of science and history of economics, with the advantage of archival evidence from his papers now deposited at Duke. It suggests he was not impressed with historians in general; but also, that his faith in the orthodox neoclassical profession failed him towards the end of his life, when those in the profession started to treat him the way that he had treated the historians.

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Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 1 - 17
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Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2013

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References

REFERENCES

PSPD: Paul Samuelson Papers, Perkins Library, Duke University

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Bernstein, Peter. 1992. Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Wall Street. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
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Foley, Duncan, and Smith, Eric. 2008. “Classical Thermodynamics and Economic General Equilibrium Theory.” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 32: 7–65.Google Scholar
Freedman, Craig. 2010. “The Chicago School: A Conversation with Paul Samuelson.” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 161–185.Google Scholar
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Medema, Steven, and Waterman, Anthony. 2010. “Paul Anthony Samuelson: Historian of Economic Thought.” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 67–86.Google Scholar
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Samuelson, Paul. 1962. “Economists and the History of Ideas.” American Economic Review 52: 1–18.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1977. The Collected Scientific Papers, edited by Nagatani, Hiroaki and Crowley, Kate. Four volumes. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1987. “Out of the Closet: A Program for a Whig History of Economic Science.” History of Economics Society Bulletin 9: 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1991. “Conversations with My History-of-Economics Critics.” In Shaw, G.K., ed., Economics, Culture & Education: Essays in Honor of Mark Blaug. Aldershot: Elgar, pp. 3–13.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1998. “How Foundations Came to Be.” Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1375–1386.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 2009. “A Few Remembrances of Friedrich von Hayek.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 69: 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szenberg, Michael, Gottesman, Aron, and Ramrattan, Lall, eds. 2006. Samuelsonian Economics and the Twenty-First Century. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Horn, Robert. 2011. “Jacob Viner’s Critique of Chicago Neoliberalism.” In van Horn, Robert, Mirowski, Philip, and Stapleford, Tom, eds., Building Chicago Economics. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 279–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Wong, Stanley. 1973. “The F-Twist and the Methodology of Paul Samuelson.” American Economic Review 63: 312–325.Google Scholar
Wong, Stanley. 2006. The Foundations of Paul Samuelson’s Revealed Preference Theory. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrow, Kenneth, and Hahn, Frank. 1971. General Competitive Analysis. San Francisco: Holden-Day.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Peter. 1992. Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Wall Street. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bertola, Giuseppe. 2010. “Samuelson and the Switching of Techniques” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 187–196.Google Scholar
Brown, E. Cary, and Solow, Robert, eds. 1983. Paul Samuelson and Modern Economic Theory. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Burgin, Angus. 2012. The Great Persuasion. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duarte, Pedro. 2010. “Beyond Samuelson’s Chapter on Ramsay.” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 121–159.Google Scholar
Feiwel, George, ed. 1982. Paul Samuelson and Neoclassical Economics. Boston: Kluwer Nijhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foley, Duncan, and Smith, Eric. 2008. “Classical Thermodynamics and Economic General Equilibrium Theory.” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 32: 7–65.Google Scholar
Freedman, Craig. 2010. “The Chicago School: A Conversation with Paul Samuelson.” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 161–185.Google Scholar
Hands, Wade. 2011. “Paul Samuelson and Revealed Preference Theory.” Unpublished paper.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollinger, David. 2012. “What Is Our ‘Canon’? How American Intellectual Historians Debate the Core of Their Field” Modern Intellectual History 9: 185–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollinger, David, and Capper, Charles, eds. 2011. The American Intellectual Tradition: A Sourcebook. Sixth edition. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Gavin. 2010. “Paul Samuelson and the Invention of the Modern Economics of the Invisible Hand.” History of Economic Ideas 18 (3): 105–119.Google Scholar
Klein, Lawrence. 1947. The Keynesian Revolution. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kloppenberg, James. 2012. “Thinking Historically: A Manifesto of Pragmatic Hermeneutics.” Modern Intellectual History 9: 201–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laidler, David. 1993. “Hawtrey, Harvard and the Origins of the Chicago Tradition.” Journal of Political Economy 101: 1068–1103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leijonhufvud, Axel. 2006. “The Uses of the Past.” Lecture to European Society for the History of Economic Thought, Oporto, Portugal.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, Donald. 2006. An Engine, Not a Camera. Cambridge: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medema, Steven, and Waterman, Anthony. 2010. “Paul Anthony Samuelson: Historian of Economic Thought.” History of Economic Ideas 13 (3): 67–86.Google Scholar
Mirowski, Philip. 1989. More Heat than Light. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirowski, Philip. 2013. Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Mirowski, Philip, and van Horn, Robert. 2009. “The Rise of the Chicago School of Economics.” In Mirowski, P. and Plehwe, D., eds., The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 139–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patinkin, Don. 1981. Essays on and in the Chicago Tradition. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1946. “Lord Keynes and the General Theory.” Econometrica 14: 187–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1962. “Economists and the History of Ideas.” American Economic Review 52: 1–18.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1977. The Collected Scientific Papers, edited by Nagatani, Hiroaki and Crowley, Kate. Four volumes. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1987. “Out of the Closet: A Program for a Whig History of Economic Science.” History of Economics Society Bulletin 9: 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1991. “Conversations with My History-of-Economics Critics.” In Shaw, G.K., ed., Economics, Culture & Education: Essays in Honor of Mark Blaug. Aldershot: Elgar, pp. 3–13.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1998. “How Foundations Came to Be.” Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1375–1386.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 2009. “A Few Remembrances of Friedrich von Hayek.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 69: 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szenberg, Michael, Gottesman, Aron, and Ramrattan, Lall, eds. 2006. Samuelsonian Economics and the Twenty-First Century. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Horn, Robert. 2011. “Jacob Viner’s Critique of Chicago Neoliberalism.” In van Horn, Robert, Mirowski, Philip, and Stapleford, Tom, eds., Building Chicago Economics. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 279–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Horn, Robert. Forthcoming. “A Note on Henry Simons’ Death.” History of Political Economy.Google Scholar
Wong, Stanley. 1973. “The F-Twist and the Methodology of Paul Samuelson.” American Economic Review 63: 312–325.Google Scholar
Wong, Stanley. 2006. The Foundations of Paul Samuelson’s Revealed Preference Theory. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar