While the idea of freedom lies at the heart of our economic system, academic research has neglected to connect theories of the firm to freedom theory. To fill this void, the authors delineate two archetypes of freedom – quantitative and qualitative – and outline the consequences of the...

In this article, the author offers a discussion of the evidential role of the Galilean constant in the history of physics. The author argues that measurable constants help theories constrain data. Theories are engines for research, and this helps explain why the Duhem-Quine thesis does not...

Historians’ treatment of John Maynard Keynes’s putative anti-Semitism raises complex historiographic issues. Melvin W. Reder’s (2000) paper, “The Anti-Semitism of some Eminent Economists” considered whether the term “ambivalent anti-Semitism” could be applied variously to John...

The following analysis is meant to contribute to a history of rational choice theory. More specifically, I provide a multi-layered account of rational choice theory in terms of its biography as a scientific object. I argue that its axiomatic version, choice theory traveled between different...

The present essay addresses the epistemic difficulties involved in achieving consensus with respect to the Hayek-Keynes debate. It is argued that the debate cannot be settled on the basis of the observable evidence; or, more precisely, that the empirical implications of the relevant theories are...

Austrian economics, classical political economy and influences from the German historical school form Lederer's background. His contributions to business cycle theory reflect this diverse heritage. This paper traces the development of Lederer's business cycle explanation from his 1925...

Friedman held that "the demand for money is highly stable"; yet, he overlooked the conventional wisdom that the velocity of money would be accelerated substantially along with the institutional and technological changes. If no corrective factors to cancel the impact of the accelerative velocity...

There is a long-negligent defect in Friedman's monetary framework. Friedman overlooked the common wisdom that, in the long run, along with the institution and technology changes, the velocity of money would be accelerated substantially. If no corrective factors to cancel the impact of the...

This paper outlines the development of Hayek's account of the working of decentralised economies, focusing in particular on his move away from using the notion of economic equilibrium towards an emphasis on the notion of 'order'

Spanish Abstract: Irving Fisher fue uno de los más importantes economistas norteamericanos de la primera mitad del siglo XX. Hizo aportaciones muy relevantes sobre la teoría monetaria, los ciclos económicos y las políticas estabilizadoras. En este artículo se resumen su vida, sus ideas y...