IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usi/wpaper/733.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Chicago Economics in the Making, 1926-1940. A Further Look at US Interwar Pluralism

Author

Listed:
  • Luca Fiorito
  • Sebastiano Nerozzi

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to unfold a rich body of archival material that can shed new light on the nature and evolution of interwar Chicago economics. Specifically, this paper is based on a scrutiny of the PhD qualifying exams on Economic Theory at Chicago from 1926 to 1940. The qualifying tests (supplemented by the courses’ programs) show the existence of two important turning points in the shaping of Chicago economic training. The first one is in 1927, when John M. Clark, the undisputed leader of the Chicago Department of Economics during the heyday of institutionalism, moved to Columbia, leaving open ground to the restructuring of the courses according to a different and more analytical approach already represented in the Department by Viner and, in a narrower field, by Paul Douglas. The arrival at Chicago of figures such as Knight, Schultz and Simons definitely shifted the balance toward neoclassical theory. A second turning point occurred in 1933 when the qualifying test in Economic Theory was divided into two major fields: price and distribution theory on the one side; money and business cycle on the other. This innovation reveals the importance acquired by monetary theory in economic training at a time that is commonly associated with the nurturing of what was later named as the “Chicago monetary tradition.”

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Fiorito & Sebastiano Nerozzi, 2016. "Chicago Economics in the Making, 1926-1940. A Further Look at US Interwar Pluralism," Department of Economics University of Siena 733, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:733
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/733.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Groenewegen, Peter, 1994. "Jacob Viner and the History of Economic Thought," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(0), pages 69-86.
    2. Ross B. Emmett (ed.), 2010. "The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2591.
    3. Warren J. Samuels, 1992. "The Knight-Ayres Correspondence: The Grounds of Knowledge and Social Action," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics, chapter 9, pages 154-200, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Pier Francesco Asso & Luca Fiorito, 2008. "Was Frank Knight an Institutionalist?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 59-77.
    5. Reder, Melvin W, 1982. "Chicago Economics: Permanence and Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-38, March.
    6. Rodney D. Peterson & Ronnie J. Phillips, 1991. "In Memoriam," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 35(1), pages 79-81, March.
    7. David Laidler & Roger Sandilands, 2010. "Harvard, the Chicago Tradition, and the Quantity Theory: A Reply to James Ahiakpor," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 573-592, Fall.
    8. James C. W. Ahiakpor, 2010. "On the Similarities between the 1932 Harvard Memorandum and the Chicago Antidepression Recommendations," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 547-571, Fall.
    9. Sebastiano Nerozzi, 2009. "Jacob Viner and the Chicago Monetary Tradition," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 575-604, Fall.
    10. Rutherford,Malcolm, 2013. "The Institutionalist Movement in American Economics, 1918–1947," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107626089.
    11. Patinkin, Don, 1973. "Frank Knight as Teacher," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(5), pages 787-810, December.
    12. Jacob Viner, 1936. "Mr. Keynes on the Causes of Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 51(1), pages 147-167.
    13. Frank H. Knight, 1944. "Realism and Relevance in the Theory of Demand," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(4), pages 289-289.
    14. Samuelson, Paul A, 1972. "Jacob Viner, 1892-1970," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(1), pages 5-11, Jan.-Feb..
    15. Groenewegen, P.D., 1994. "Jacob Viner and the History of Economic Thought," Working Papers 193, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    16. J. M. Clark, 1918. "Economics and Modern Psychology: II," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 136-136.
    17. J. M. Clark, 1918. "Economics and Modern Psycholoy: I," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(1), pages 1-1.
    18. Asso, Pier Francesco & Fiorito, Luca, 2004. "Human Nature and Economic Institutions: Instinct Psychology, Behaviorism, and the Development of American Institutionalism," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 445-477, December.
    19. F. H. Knight, 1921. "Cost of Production and Price over Long and Short Periods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(4), pages 304-304.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sebastiano Nerozzi, 2011. "From the Great Depression to Bretton Woods: Jacob Viner and international monetary stabilization (1930-1945)," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 55-84.
    2. Galbács, Péter, 2019. "A chicagonomics és a közgazdaságtan imperializmusa ["Chicagonomics" and the imperialism of economics]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 229-255.
    3. Henrik Egbert & Teodor Sedlarski & Aleksandar B. Todorov, 2021. "Foundations of contemporary economics: Frank H. Knight on uncertainty, capital theory, and the beginnings of the Chicago school," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 74-90.
    4. Christian Cordes, 2019. "The promises of a naturalistic approach: how cultural evolution theory can inform (evolutionary) economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1241-1262, September.
    5. Luca Fiorito, 2015. "A Certain Amount of ‘Recantation'. On the Origins of Frank H. Knight’s Antipositivism," Department of Economics University of Siena 705, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    6. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    7. Luca Fiorito, 2008. "John R. Commons, Wesley N. Hohfeld and the Origins of Transactional Economics," Department of Economics University of Siena 536, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    8. Atsebi, Jean-Marc Bédhat & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2019. "Relative Deprivation in Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 12719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Bounded Rationality and Voting Decisions Exploring a 160-Year Period," Working Papers 2012.70, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    10. Atsebi, Jean-Marc Bédhat & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2022. "Relative deprivation in Tanzania: Relative concerns and empathy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 389-408.
    11. Tomasz Zalega, 2015. "Behavioural Economics as a New Trend in Economics – An Overview (Ekonomia behawioraln jako nowy nurt ekonomii - zarys problemtyki)," Research Reports, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 1(18), pages 7-25.
    12. Sebastian Berger, 2013. "The Making of the Institutional Theory of Social Costs: Discovering the K. W. Kapp and J. M. Clark Correspondence," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(5), pages 1106-1130, November.
    13. Richard H. Thaler, 2016. "Behavioral Economics: Past, Present, and Future," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1577-1600, July.
    14. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    15. Christian Cordes, 2014. "There are several ways to incorporate evolutionary concepts into economic thinking," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2014-02, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    16. David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Bounded Rationality and Voting Decisions Exploring a 160-Year Period," Working Papers 2012.70, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    17. Frederic Jennings Jr., 2022. "The Opportunity Costs of Neoclassical Economics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 282-310.
    18. Peter Galbács, 2019. "Friedman’s instrumentalism in F53. A Weberian reading," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 31-53, May.
    19. Medema, Steven G, 2024. "Identifying a "Chicago School" of Economics: On the Origins, Diffusion, and Evolving Meanings of a Famous Brand Name," SocArXiv cbq8a, Center for Open Science.
    20. Roger Frantz, 2021. "Driven by the Invisible: The economics of the unseen," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 5(S3), pages 7-17, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chicago School; Institutionalism; Knight; Frank H.; Viner; Jacob;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:733. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Fabrizio Becatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desieit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.