The article presents an exchange of letters between Jakob Marschak and Trygve Haavelmo in May-July 1943. Marschak had from the beginning of 1943 become the research director of Cowles Commission at the University of Chicago. Trygve Haavelmo, who at the time worked for the Norwegian Shipping and...

This paper is prepared for the forthcoming publication of Frisch’s 1930 Yale lecture notes, A Dynamic Approach to Economic Theory: The Yale Lectures of Ragnar Frisch (details at: http://www.routledgeeconomics.com/books/A-Dynamic-Approach-to-Economic-Theory-isbn9780415564090). As the lecture...

After World War II economic policy in Europe comprised considerable elements of planning. The paper discusses how this shift was related to the conceived failure of the free enterprise economy to provide full employment in the interwar period and to the war experience. The Norwegian post-war...

Business cycle analysis, i.e. investigations into the more or less regular fluctuations in economic activity, emerged around the mid-nineteenth century. During Ragnar Frisch’s formative years as a young economist the field came to the centre of attention. Frisch was highly concerned about the...

The memo consists of six papers on a common theme: applying economic analysis to subjects at the time, 1972, considered non-economic. The first paper considers changes in preferences. The second considers strategies of a regime and its opposition. The third discusses collective decision making...

Artikkelen redegjør innledningsvis for opprettelsen av statsøkonomisk eksamen i 1905 – den viktigste begivenhet i økonomifagets utvikling ved universitetet i de første 100 år av dets historie – og behandler deretter begivenheter som utspilte seg i 1910-20. I 1910 ble det for annen gang...

The article reviews the early history of the Cowles Commission, its close and intertwined relations with the Econometric Society (ES), and the influence and guidance of Ragnar Frisch. It provides much detail on the three rounds of choosing a research director, in 1937-38, in 1939 and at the end...

The Econometric Society was founded at an "organization meeting" in December 1930. The invitations had been issued by Irving Fisher, Ragnar Frisch and, Charles F. Roos. In June the same year they had sent a form letter to a list of 31 scholars to solicit advice about establishing an...

The journal of the Econometric Society, Econometrica, was established in 1933 and edited by Ragnar Frisch for the first 22 years. As a new journal Econometrica had three key characteristics. First, it was devoted to a research program stated in few but significant words in the constitution of...