----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Patinkin Conference Call for papers. Second Announcement Centre Walras-Pareto University of Lausanne, 20-22 September 2001 On the initiative of Pascal Bridel (Universite de Lausanne) and Michel De Vroey (Universite catholique de Louvain), the Centre Walras-Pareto of the University of Lausanne is organising a Conference on Don Patinkin. As the author of Money, Interest and Prices and many other books and articles, Professor Patinkin is one of the most influential post World-War theorists. The organisers' motivation lies in their admiration for Patinkin's work and their perception of the important role he played in the unfolding of modern economic theory. The aim of the conference is to assess Patinkin's role and place in the unfolding of modern economic theory. Time has come, we feel, for a critical assessment of his work. Contributions centred on the three following themes are invited. 1) Patinkin as a monetary economist Patinkin's major aim was to integrate money in a Walrasian general equilibrium perspective as well as to study the implications of such integration. With his stochastic payment approach, he attempted to provide a micro-theory of the demand for money and laid the grounds to dynamics analysis. With Hicks and Samuelson, he was probably one of he first authors trying to transform Walras's complex abstract analysis into a pragmatic four-market model, presenting itself as a simplified account of real-world market economies. It would be worth assessing what is left today of Patinkin's attempt in this respect. Of particular interests would be an examination of his temporary equilibrium model, the part played by the real-balance effect and his attempt at proving the existence of a monetary equilibrium. 2) Patinkin as a Keynesian Economist In chapter XIII and XIV of Money, Interest and Prices, Patinkin recasts the Keynesian theory of involuntary unemployment in a disequilibrium perspective. This interpretation has been highly influential. Patinkin has also devoted a large part of his life to the study Keynes' work in a history of economics perspective. For decades, he defended his own disequilibrium interpretation of Keynes claiming that it was the only one to respect Keynes' own intellectual agenda. The fact that his analysis was an extension of his Walrasian model makes Patinkin a founding father of the neo-classical synthesis. 3) Patinkin and other (past and present) economists A distinctive feature of Patinkin's book is his appendix, where his views are related to those of his great forerunners. Still today, it remains an invaluable source of information. It would be interesting to re-evaluate critically Patinkin's contributions as an historian of economic thought. Another aspect of Patinkin's work, which is worth considering, is his relation with other great economists of his time. As the Patinkin archives held at Duke University reveal, he entertained a very lively intellectual correspondence with about everyone who has counted in economics for the last five decades. The study of this correspondence should certainly help assessing more precisely Patinkin's positions. In order to allow for fruitful intellectual exchanges, the format of the conference will be voluntarily kept small. All sessions will be plenary and the number of papers will be kept to around fifteen, leaving ample space for a general discussion. Proposals of communication (five hundred words) should be sent before December 1, 2000 to: Pascal Bridel, Centre Walras-Pareto, BFSH 1, Universite de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne-Dorigny (Switzerland) Fax : + 41 21 692 28 45 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Letters of acceptation will be sent in January, 2001. Final manuscripts should reach us before July 1, 2001. For any further information, feel free to contact either Pascal Bridel ([log in to unmask]) or Michel De Vroey ([log in to unmask]). ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]