The transition to a modelling science in economics: from verbal laws to mathematical representations

19 September 2014

Mary Morgan
London School of Economics and
University of Amsterdam and University of Pennsylvannia

Abstract

Two hundred years ago, political economists wrote their economics in words and argued in terms of general laws. Over the last century, it became a technical field, dominated by modelling: models formed the basis for theorizing, for empirical work, and thence for experimental design. This talk explores how this happened, the cognitive and imaginative shifts this entailed, and the implications modelling has for economics as a social science.

current theory lunch schedule