"Economists are, in our day and age, best known as policy experts. This book is about one of them, Jan Tinbergen. He paved the way for this new type of economist. The economic expert is a government functionary, who works in service of the economic and social goals of government. The rise of the...

Jan Tinbergen was the first Nobel Prize winner in Economics and one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. This book argues that his crucial contribution is the theory of economic policy and the legitimation of economic expertise in service of the state. It traces his youthful...