Mathematics and the Transformation of Economics after 1945

In the wake of World War II, economics came of age. It ceased being a set of politically contested and methodologically divided traditions and became an established discipline with a distinct canon of knowledge different from other social sciences. This transformation took place on the background of an emerging community of mathematicians which valued purism over other forms of knowledge. Sharing these values, economists also developed close relationships with governmental organizations that promoted largely trans-disciplinary and technically advanced research programs in the behavioral and engineering sciences. In this one-day workshop, scholars from the history of science, history of economics, and economic history will discuss the role of mathematics for the stabilization of economics in the context of post-war academia and society, and, vice versa, how this transformation contributed to the stabilization of the post-war institutions of science and Western society at large.

9:00 – 9:30 Coffee
9:30 – 09:45: Opening and Welcome (Till Düppe)

09:45 – 10:45
MIT and the Transformation of American Economics
E. Roy Weintraub (Duke University)

Comments: Floris Heukelom (Radboud University Nijmegen)

11:00 – 12:00
How Reason became Rationality: Rational choice in the history of science
Lorraine Daston (Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science and University of Chicago) and Paul Erickson (Wesleyan University):

Comments: Roy Weintraub (Duke University)

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 14:30
Credit and priority: Personalizing the Post-War Transformation of Economics
Till Düppe (Humboldt-University Berlin) and E. Roy Weintraub (Duke University):

Comments: Lorraine Daston (Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science and University of Chicago)

14:45 – 15:45
Simply another language: The Mathematization-Discourse in German Economics in the 1960s
Jan-Otmar Hesse (University of Bielefeld)

Comments: Harald Hagemann (University of Hohenheim)

16:00 – 17:00
Maurice Allais, Jimmie Savage, and the Allais paradox
Floris Heukelom (Radboud University of Nijmegen):

Comments: Paul Erickson (Wesleyan University)

For more information www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/professuren/vwl/wg Attendance is open to everyone and free of charge. Please send an e-mail indicating your attendance to till.dueppehu-berlin.de Venue: Heilig-Geist-Kapelle in der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Spandauer Strasse 1 10178 Berlin