Table of contents
On the possibility of quantitative‐mathematical social science, chiefly economics: Some preliminary considerations
Wolfgang DrechslerArgues preliminarily that quantitative‐mathematical social science, including economics, is not possible because it applies a method useful in other areas to a field to which it…
Mathematics in economics: some remarks
Roland Dillmann, Daniel Eissrich, Hans Frambach, Oliver HerrmannAttempts to throw some light on the sensible use of mathematics in economic theory. Argues that mathematics is a valuable and useful tool which economists should and must apply as…
Mathematics and the social sciences at the time of the modern beginnings of the social sciences
Peter SennSurveys the use of mathematics in what are now commonly called the social sciences up to the time of the earliest use of the term “social science” in the late 1700s. Explains the…
The use and abuse of mathematical economics
Michael HudsonSeeks to define the proper role for mathematics to play in economic theorizing by spelling out its limits. Specifically, has the mathematization of economics contributed to its…
Econometrics: an appraisal
Marcel A.G. van MeerhaegheEconometrics labours under the same limitations as economics: it rests on unrealistic hypotheses (and non‐operational concepts) and is isolated from other sciences. It should try…
Mathematics in economics: the competition point of view
Joaquim Ramos SilvaBegins by focusing on the rise of formalism in the post‐war period leading to virtual monopoly as far as the method of economic analysis is concerned, and on the main consequences…
Mathematics in economics: the monopoly point of view?
Hans MaksDescribes how mathematics enjoyed a virtual monopoly as the privileged method of economic inquiry in the post‐war period. Counters the argument that such a position generates…
The mathematical economics of compound interest: a 4,000‐year overview
Michael HudsonSketches the history of economic thought regarding the self‐expanding growth of investments through the accrual of compound interest. Exercises that calculate such growth in terms…
Full circle: economics from scholasticism through innovation and back into mathematical scholasticism: Reflections on a 1769 Price essay: “Why is it that economics so far has gained so few advantages from physics and mathematics?”
Erik S. ReinertThrough the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European science slowly lifted itself out of the fog of Mediaeval scholasticism. A rational, quantified and mechanised world…
Heinrich von Storch’s concept of the use of mathematics in political economy
Jürgen G. BackhausHeinrich von Storch (1766‐1835) can claim a very specific position in the history of political economy. Clearly steeped in Camaralist thought, due to his upbringing and later…
The omitted mathematics of Hans von Mangoldt
Bert MosselmansDiscusses the economic thought of Hans von Mangoldt (1824‐1868). We discuss how this German classical author seems to anticipate later “neoclassical” ideas, such as Schumpeter’s…
Hermann Heinrich Gossen: a Wirkungsgeschichte of an ignored mathematical economist
Yukihiro IkedaConsiders a Wirkungsgeschichte of Hermann Heinrich Gossen, focusing on the reactions of the three stars of the Marginal Revolution: William Stanley Jevons, Léon Walras and Carl…
The fate of new ideas: Hermann Heinrich Gossen, his life, work and influence
Gerrit Meijer, Richard F.A. VogelInvestigates the fate of Gossen’s ideas and discusses his life, work and influence. Gossen formulated three laws. First, he formulated the law of diminishing marginal utility…
Comment on “Hermann Heinrich Gossen: a Wirkungsgeschichte of an ignored mathematical economist” by Yukihiro Ikeda
Gerrit MeijerComments on Ikeda’s Wirkungsgeschichte of Hermann Heinrich Gossen. Calls for a more thorough exposition of Gossen’s work.
An engineer’s view of economics: Wilhelm Launhardt’s contributions
Ursula BackhausWilhelm Launhardt (1832‐1918) is a founder of mathematical economics. His main work, Mathematical Foundations of Economics, published in 1885, was translated into English in 1993…
Mathematics in economics: Schmoller, Menger and Jevons
Julian ReissInvestigates the economic methodologies of Carl Menger, William Stanley Jevons and Gustav Schmoller with respect to the issue of whether mathematics is or is not an adequate…
Comment on “Mathematics in economics: Schmoller, Menger and Jevons” by Julian Reiss
Reginald HansenProvides a comment on Reiss’ “Mathematics in economics: Schmoller, Menger and Jevons”.
The illusion of exactness
Thomas SziraAfter having summarized the connections with psychology, philosophy and history, the conclusion of the article is that the application of mathematical models in economics is…
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0144-3585Online date, start – end:
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Emerald Publishing LimitedOpen Access:
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- Prof Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee