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Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis

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  • Roger E. Backhouse

Abstract

Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis played a major role in defining how economic theory was undertaken for many years after the Second World War. This paper fills out Samuelson's account of the book's origins and corrects some details, making clear his debt to E. B. Wilson and establishes that turning the thesis into a book was a long process. The contents of the book and its reception are then reviewed. (JEL A22, B20, B31)

Suggested Citation

  • Roger E. Backhouse, 2015. "Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 326-350, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:53:y:2015:i:2:p:326-50
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.53.2.326
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jel.53.2.326
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    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/jel/ds/5302/jel.53.2.326_ds.zip
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marion Crawford Samuelson, 1939. "The Australian Case for Protection Reexamined," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 54(1_Part_1), pages 143-149.
    2. Harro Maas, 2014. "Making Things Technical: Samuelson at MIT," Center for the History of Political Economy Working Paper Series 2014-1, Center for the History of Political Economy.
    3. Paul A. Samuelson, 1958. "An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest with or without the Social Contrivance of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66, pages 467-467.
    4. Paul A. Samuelson, 1998. "How Foundations Came to Be," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1375-1386, September.
    5. Samuelson, Paul A, 1972. "Jacob Viner, 1892-1970," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(1), pages 5-11, Jan.-Feb..
    6. Kenneth E. Boulding, 1948. "Samuelson's Foundations: The Role of Mathematics in Economics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56, pages 187-187.
    7. Paul A. Samuelson, 1942. "Fiscal Policy and Income Determination," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 56(4), pages 575-605.
    8. L. J. Savage, 1948. "Samuelson's Foundations: Its Mathematics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56, pages 200-200.
    9. Paul A. Samuelson, 1976. "Alvin Hansen as a Creative Economic Theorist," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(1), pages 24-31.
    10. E. Roy Weintraub, 2014. "MIT’s Openness to Jewish Economists," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 46(5), pages 45-59, Supplemen.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Stavros A. DRAKOPOULOS, 2016. "Economic crisis, economic methodology and the scientific ideal of physics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 28-57, November.
    4. Stavros, Drakopoulos, 2021. "The Relation of Neoclassical Economics to other Disciplines: The case of Physics and Psychology," MPRA Paper 106597, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

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