Dear friends and colleagues: this is to inform you that the second issue 2005 of Storia
del Pensiero Economico just appeared in print. Please see below for the table of content
and abstracts of the articles.
  
Best  
  
Luca Fiorito  
Storia del Pensiero Economico  
Address fo subscription and submission: [log in to unmask]  
  
Abstracts � 2005/2   
  
Frank Hahn   
GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM FOR INTELLECTUAL HISTORIANS  
Pages: 5-12  
The paper discusses the sense in which Adam Smith's vision of the market encompasses   
general equilibrium theory. Increasing abstraction, and increasing neglect of   
Marshallian qualifications, made general equilibrium the core of Neo-classical theory.   
The paper argues that Neo-classical theory has been enormously fruitful because it   
contained within it the seeds of further advance in our understanding. Through the lens   
of general equilibrium even Keynes's analysis of unemployment can be usefully   
interpreted as a case of market failure. But Neo-classical theory in general, and   
general equilibrium in particular, has been given more empirical weight than it can   
support.  
JEL Classification: B120, B200, D500  
Key-words: General equilibrium theory; Neo-classical theory   
  
  
Marcello Basili and Carlo Zappia  
AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANK HAHN ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY  
Pages: 13-18  
This interview, conducted in Cambridge in January 2005, mostly deals with Frank Hahn's   
view of economics. Hahn kindly accepted to discuss both the theoretical aspects   
concerning his contribution to the development of general equilibrium theory and the   
methodological issues inherent in his viewpoint that theoretical models can prove   
useful in the study actual economic phenomena. A few notes related to his period at the   
Economics Department in Siena close the interview.  
JEL Classification: A110, B410, D520  
Key-words: Economic theory; General equilibrium; Methodology  
  
  
Warren J. Samuels, Kirk D. Johnson and Marianne Johnson  
EDWIN L. GODKIN AS PRECURSOR TO HAYEK ON THE RELATION OF IGNORANCE TO POLICY  
Pages: 19-38  
This paper is the fourth and final part of a long essay examining the ideas of the 8th   
Duke of Argyll and Edwin L. Godkin that anticipate Hayek on the principle of unintended   
and unforeseen consequences.  In this part, the authors provide a synthesis of the   
ideas of Argyll, Godkin, and Hayek on unforeseen and unintended consequences and   
structure a general model of ignorance which analyses key questions around: i. the   
source of ignorance; ii. the structure of ignorance and the forms which ignorance   
takes; iii. the consequences of ignorance.  
JEL Classification:  B130, B310  
Key Words:  Argyll, Godkin, Hayek, unforeseen and unintended consequences  
  
  
Stefano Figuera   
THE BANK DEPOSIT MULTIPLIER AND THE MONEY SUPPLY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL  
Pages: 29-80  
Theoretical considerations by economists of the neoclassical school regarding the   
process of multiplying deposits reveal a growing interest in problems concerning the   
nature of money supply and the role of the banking system in a capitalist economy.   
These reflections have proved unsatisfactory under some profiles. The Keynesian theory,   
underlining the importance of the credit side of money, offers instruments for a   
correct approach to these theoretical aspects. Keynes' analysis remains essential to   
define the nature of money supply and the various functions of the banking system and   
offers the basis for subsequent theoretical developments which have proved decisive for   
understanding the monetary nature of the capitalist economy.  
JEL Classification: E120, E510, G210.  
Keywords: Bank deposit multiplier, money supply, neoclassical theory of money,   
Keynesian theory of money, monetary theory of production.   
  
  
Piero Barucci  
ON THE CIRCULAR PROCESS OF THE EVOLUTION OF ECONOMIC THEORY   
Pages: 81-97  
This paper presents an interpretative model for the evolution of economic knowledge.   
The central theme is that in the history of economic thought we can discern a   
continuous interdependence between the environment and the evolution of economic   
theory. This interdependence may be divided into three distinct phases  each discussed
in the paper. The first has to do with the theorizing; the second with the spreading of   
theoretical results; the third with the influence that political economy has managed to   
obtain in shaping economic policy decisions. As far as the actors of this process are   
concerned, we can distinguish between those who produce the analytical advancement,   
those who make it circulate, those who utilize it and endeavour to have some of its   
results to be eventually applied by Parliaments, governments, industries, banks and   
independent Authorities. The process is of a circular/cumulative kind, in the sense   
that the third phase (policy decisions) has in its turn a feedback on the environment,   
stimulating new theoretical responses from the economic profession, therefore starting   
a new "cycle".  
JEL Classification: B0; B4.  
Keywords: Economic knowledge; evolution of economic thought; historical reconstruction;   
rational reconstruction.