Samuelsonian Economics and the Twenty-First Century

by Szenberg, Michael; Ramrattan, Lall; Gottesman, Aron A.

• ISBN13: 9780199298839
• ISBN10: 0199298831
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume illuminates and critically assesses Paul A. Samuelson's voluminous and groundbreaking contributions to the field of economics. The volume includes contributions from eminent scholars, including 6 Nobel Laureates, covering the extraordinary depth and breadth of Samuelson's contributions. Samuelson, the first American economist to win the Nobel prize in 1970, was the foremost voice in economics in the latter half of the 20th century. He single-handedly transformed the discipline by creating a new way of presenting economics, making it possible for it to be cast all in mathematical terms. Samuelson developed broad frameworks, such as the neoclassical synthesis, a mixed economy, and the surrogate production function, which provided practitioners with a vision for research. Samuelson's contributions to economics are rich, complex, consequential, and relevant to the ordinary economics of life. The quality of Samuelson's output and methods leave no doubt that his contributions continue to be timely and relevant even in the 21st century. Ideal as a reference or an introduction to Samuelson's work, this is a must-have for students and academics alike.

Author Biography

Michael Szenberg is the Distinguished Professor of Economics and Chair of the Finance and Economics Department at Lubin School of Business, Pace University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the City University of New York, a B.A. in Economics from Long Island University, and a Diploma from the Air Force Aeronautics School. Michael is the recipient of many awards, including the Irving Fisher Monograph Award, the Kenan Award for excellence in teaching, and received Pace University's Award for Distinguished Faculty Service. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the American Economist and as consultant to private and governmental agencies. Lall Ramarattan received his Ph.D. from the New School University in 1986. He currently teaches Economics at the University of California, Berkeley Extension. He has published many articles in professional journals on a variety of topics. Currently, his interest is in the application of economic models to industry and country studies. Aron A. Gottesman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance and Economics at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. He has a Ph.D. in Finance, an M.B.A. in Finance, and a B.A. in Psychology, all from York University in Toronto. Gottesman's research interests include financial markets and intermediation, corporate finance, and the history of economic thought. He has published and has forthcoming a number of articles in academic and policy journals, including the Journal of Empirical Finance, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Financial Markets, and The National Interest, among others, and is an Associate Editor of The American Economist.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	xxi
Ten Ways to Know Paul A. Samuelson	xxiii
Introduction	1	(32)
PART I. Analysis of Samuelson's Specific Contributions	33	(268)
Overlapping Generation Models
1. Overlapping Generations	35	(7)
Robert M. Solow
2. Paul Samuelson's Amazing Intergenerational Transfer	42	(12)
Laurence Kotlikoff
3. Social Security, the Government Budget, and National Savings	54	(12)
Peter Diamond
Expectation, Uncertainty and Public Goods
4. Prospective Shifts, Speculative Swings: "Macro" for the Twenty-First Century in the Tradition Championed by Paul Samuelson	66	(22)
Edmund S. Phelps
5. Paul Samuelson and Global Public Goods	88	(11)
William D. Nordhaus
Preference and Consumer Behavior
6. Revealed Preference	99	(17)
Hal R. Varian
7. Samuelson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Jekyll" Problem: A Difficulty in the Concept of the Consumer	116	(11)
Robert A. Pollak
Marx
8. Paul Samuelson on Karl Marx: Were the Sacrificed Games of Tennis Worth It?	127	(15)
Geoff Harcourt
Stability
9. Paul Samuelson and the Stability of General Equilibrium	142
Franklin M. Fisher
Keynes & Post Keynesians
10. Paul Samuelson and Piero Sraffa—Two Prodigious Minds at the Opposite Poles	146	(19)
Luigi L. Pasinetti
11. Paul Samuelson as a "Keynesian" Economist	165	(13)
L.R. Klein
12. Samuelson and the Keynes/Post Keynesian Revolution	178	(19)
Paul Davidson
International Economics and Finance
13. Paul Samuelson and International Trade Theory Over Eight Decades	197	(15)
Avinash Dixit
14. Paul Samuelson's Contributions to International Economics	212	(12)
Kenneth Rogoff
15. Protection and Real Wages: The Stolper-Samuelson Theorem	224	(11)
Rachel McCulloch
Finance and Portfolio Theory
16. Samuelson and the Factor Bias of Technological Change: Toward a Unified Theory of Growth and Unemployment	235	(17)
Joseph E. Stiglitz
17. Samuelson and Investment for the Long Run	252	(10)
Harry M. Markowitz
18 Paul Samuelson and Financial Economics	262	(41)
Robert C. Merton
PART II. Samuelson's Relevance	301	(42)
Relevance to Mathematical Economics
19. Multipliers and the LeChatelier Principle	303	(8)
Paul Milgrom
Relevance to the Natural Sciences
20. The Surprising Ubiquity of the Samuelson Configuration: Paul Samuelson and the Natural Sciences	311	(19)
James B. Cooper and Thomas Russell
21. Paul Samuelson's Mach	330	(13)
Rod Cross
Index	343