Paul Samuelson, gender bias and discrimination

Paul Samuelson’s widely quoted deprecatory remarks about female economists are discussed in the context of his having been one of the earliest economists to emphasize the problem of gender and racial discrimination in his textbook. Reference is made both to his published analyses of discrimination, in his textbook and elsewhere, and to archival materials on his interactions with female economists, including testimonials he wrote on their behalf. His attitudes appear paradoxical in that he emphasized the problem of discrimination and was very supportive of women but this did not lead him to challenge some of the attitudes he held about women in general

Monetary non-neutrality and stabilisation policies 50 years after Lucas’s “expectations” paper: a roundtable discussion

peer reviewe

The Price of Virtue: Some Hypotheses on How Tractability Has Shaped Economic Models

This paper seeks to convince historians that investigating how tractability has shaped individual and collective modeling choices in economics is a valuable endeavor. To do so, I first survey the economic methodology literature on tractability, one that grew out of methodologists’ attempts to explain why their authors make unrealistic assumptions. I then compare these accounts with the few instances where 20th century economists discussed tractability explicitly. This short survey suggests that there is a need for historians to document the collective dynamics at work when tractability motives are invoked. I suggest that disentangling theoretical, empirical and computational tractability might be fruitful, but also difficult. I ask how and why choices made for tractability purposes meant to be idiosyncratic and temporary often become collectively entrenched, sometimes creating “tractability traps.” Finally, I consider the existence of “tractability standards” that differ across time and fields.Cet article cherche à convaincre les historiens de se pencher sur la manière dont la « tractabilité », traduction directe de l’anglais tractability, a influencé les choix de modélisation individuels et collectifs en économie. Pour ce faire, je passe en revue la littérature en épistémologie économique sur le sujet. Celle-ci dérive des travaux visant à comprendre pourquoi les économistes font des hypothèses irréalistes. J’analyse ensuite les rares exemples où les économistes du 20ème siècle ont explicitement discuté du problème de la tractabilité. J’en conclue que la dimension collective des dynamiques par lesquelles les économistes rendent leurs modèles manipulables et solvables est un élément important et sous-étudié de l’analyse économique. Les choix de modélisation qui répondent à des impératifs de tractabilité sont souvent censés être temporaires et ad hoc, mais n’en deviennent pas moins des conventions collectives, créant des « trappes à tractabilité ». Je considère aussi l’existence de « standards de tractabilité » qui diffèrent selon les époques et les spécialités. Je suggère enfin de distinguer trois types de tractabilité : théorique, empirique et computationnelle

'It's Computerization, Stupid!' The Spread of Computers and the Changing Roles of Theoretical and Applied Economics

This paper challenges the widely held notion that the developments in computing are sufficient to explain the recent turn to applied economics. Developments in computer hardware were undoubtedly important. Yet, economists' appropriation of the new techniques allowed by computerization were highly selective, and influenced by the development of software and ties with other scientific communities, by the availability of business and governmental data, by salesmanship to policy-makers, and by how epistemologically acceptable these approaches were made to other economists. In particular, theoretical work was not be transformed by computers the way it was in physics or biology. We conjecture that the most profound effect of the increased availability of computers may have been to challenge the demarcation between theory and applied work

A Century of Economics and Engineering at Stanford

International audienc

DEFINING EXCELLENCE: SEVENTY YEARS OF THE JOHN BATES CLARK MEDAL

International audienc