History of Economic Thought in the 20th Century, from Paul Samuelson to Esther Duflo

The seminar "History of Economic Thought in the 20th century" has the focus on the work of economists and mathematicians, who were awarded with the Nobel Prize in Economics, i. e. the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. We will study some economic theories from a historical perspective by investigating significant publications of some of the 76 Laureates between 1969 and 2015. Furthermore, the development of mathematical and statistical methods which became important tools,will be discussed. Active participation is desired; the seminar is for students who are interested in history of economics and mathematical economics.

First, we will sketch the background of the history of economics in general until the present. Second, we will investigate the history of the Nobel Foundation, its Prizes, and the establishment of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Between 1969 and 2015 the Prize has been awarded 47 times to 76 Laureates from different countries and various special fields. Third, we want to study some work of these scholars which contributed to economic thought, by developing either economic theories or special methods for a better understanding of micro- and macroeconomics or using mathematical methods and tools. The exceptional role of mathematics, the close connections between economic theories and mathematical methods and the limits of mathematics will be studied and discussed too. The aim of the seminar is to study classical papers on economics and to analyse them from a historical perspective.