The task of economic planning in the new nation of Nigeria in theearly 1960s tested the limits of economic technologies: its recipesfor development, its possibilities of measurement, and fromdifferences in political economy. These dimensions of the problembeset not only the Nigerian politicians...

The facts of social sciences are ones that stem from scientificexpertise, but in the social world, everyone is their own expert.Everyone lives in society, and experiences either first-hand, orclosely second-hand, the same phenomena that social scientistsinvestigate. Consequently, people are not...

Economic measurements are generated by complicated systems of measurement involving economic and bureaucratic processes. Whether these measuring instruments produce reliable numbers: ‘facts’ that travel well, depends on the qualities of these systems. Ideas from metrology, and from the...

The development of David Ricardo’s economic theory of distribution -the laws that determine the share of output between the economic classes -depended on specific connections at several levels between two practicalsciences of the early 19th century, namely experimental agriculture andpolitical...