Weintraub on the evolution of mathematical economics: a review essay

This essay discusses the implications for the evolution of mathematical economics of the ideas presented in E. Roy Weintraub's How Economics Became a Mathematical Science . A central issue in the discussion is the nature of formalism and axiomatization in mathematical economics, how that has evolved in mathematics, and how that evolution has influenced developments in economics. It is argued that modern mathematical economics has followed mathematics itself in moving beyond hyper-formalistic approaches such as Bourbakism to the use of other approaches, such as computer simulation and more inductive methods. The essay will also argue that mathematics is useful in developing Post Keynesian economics.