Love and death: The wealth of Irving Fisher

Abstract

This essay puts forward a new interpretation of Irving Fisher that integrates his scientific work with his moral crusades, and places both in the context of his times. The key to the new interpretation is Fisher's book on The Nature of Capital and Income (1906) where he lays out his vision of the economic process and presents his theory of income, neither one of which ever gained acceptance. The new interpretation challenges the standard view of Fisher's scientific work as an anticipation of the post war neoclassical synthesis.

Citation

Mehrling, P. (2001), "Love and death: The wealth of Irving Fisher", A Research Annual (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0743-4154(01)19005-X