De Finetti, Friedman, and the methodology of positive economics

Pelloni, Gianluigi

doi:10.1016/0304-4076(95)01767-4

“…Gini himself took part in the 1924 International Mathematical Congress at Toronto, where he had his first encounter with R. A. Fisher. Close ties between Gini and the mathematicians' circle were kept only until the end of the twenties, in the years when Bruno de Finetti (1931)-a representative of the "most extreme subjectivism" (Hacking 2006, 147;Pelloni 1996)-was approaching his subjective theory on probability. Silence descended, then, until the post-World War II years.…”

Section: Gini's Final Rejection Of the Legitimacy Of Econometricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corrado Gini (1884–1965): The Leading Figure of the Italian Group in the Econometric Society

Parisi¹

2011

History of Political Economy

5

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay deals with some key Italian contributions to econometrics in the twentieth century. It opens with some notes on the need to define and measure each dimension of the manifold notion of well-being. While considering the convinced supporters of the methodological adoption of tools devised by economics and statistics, the central part of the essay focuses on Corrado Gini (1884–1965). He was Italy's leading econometrician and the main reference of the international network of econometricians until the 1940s. Other Italian members of the newly formed Econometric Society are also cited, specifically Luigi Amoroso and Umberto Ricci, because of the relevance of their contribution. The essay concludes by referring to Gini's rejection of econometrics, which coincided with the appearance of a new generation of social scientists whose aim was to combine economics, statistics, and mathematics.

show abstract

“…And it was as if he were my real instructor in economics" (Schwartz, quoted in Nelson, 2004, p. 595). 10 For discussions of Friedman's Bayesianism and of his empirical approach more generally see Pelloni (1987Pelloni ( , 1996, Lothian (2009Lothian ( , 2016, and Dwyer (2016).…”

Section: Friedman Began His Collaboration With Schwartz On a Monetarymentioning

confidence: 99%

How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists

Lothian

¹

,

Tavlas

²

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. ABSTRACT During the late-1940s and the early-1950s Milton Friedman favored a rule under which fiscal policy would be used to generate changes in the money supply with the aim of stabilizing output at full employment. He believed that the economy is inherently unstable because of endogenous movements in money supply under a fractional-reserve banking system. In her work, Anna Schwartz downplayed the role of monetary factors of business cycles and the role of monetary policy as a stabilization tool. We show how the joint work of Friedman and Schwartz from 1948 to 1958 led Friedman to view money as the "primary mover" in the business cycle and underpinned his shift to a rule based on money growth so that discretionary monetary policy would not act as a source of destabilizing shocks. The decisive factor in the evolution of Friedman's thinking was the empirical confirmation that the Great Depression had been both initiated and deepened by the Fed. The largely neglected influence of Clark Warburton on the evolution of Friedman's thinking provides a missing --but crucial --link in explaining Friedman's recognition of the role of monetary factors in the Great Depression and of the Fed's ability to offset the destabilizing effects produced by shifts from deposits into currency under a fractional-reserve banking system. Terms of use: Documents in

show abstract

“…He then provided a detailed explanation of the reasons underlying his interest in a series on government obligations, to which, on May 12, 1948, Schwartz replied, "light has dawned… I now see the point of the series you have in mind" (Schwartz, 1948b (Schwartz, quoted in Nelson, 2004, p. 595). 10 For discussions of Friedman's Bayesianism and of his empirical approach more generally see Pelloni (1987Pelloni ( , 1996, Lothian (2009Lothian ( , 2016, and Dwyer (2016).…”

Section: Friedman Began His Collaboration With Schwartz On a Monetarymentioning

confidence: 99%

How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists

Lothian

¹

,

Tavlas²

2016

SSRN Journal

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. ABSTRACT During the late-1940s and the early-1950s Milton Friedman favored a rule under which fiscal policy would be used to generate changes in the money supply with the aim of stabilizing output at full employment. He believed that the economy is inherently unstable because of endogenous movements in money supply under a fractional-reserve banking system. In her work, Anna Schwartz downplayed the role of monetary factors of business cycles and the role of monetary policy as a stabilization tool. We show how the joint work of Friedman and Schwartz from 1948 to 1958 led Friedman to view money as the "primary mover" in the business cycle and underpinned his shift to a rule based on money growth so that discretionary monetary policy would not act as a source of destabilizing shocks. The decisive factor in the evolution of Friedman's thinking was the empirical confirmation that the Great Depression had been both initiated and deepened by the Fed. The largely neglected influence of Clark Warburton on the evolution of Friedman's thinking provides a missing --but crucial --link in explaining Friedman's recognition of the role of monetary factors in the Great Depression and of the Fed's ability to offset the destabilizing effects produced by shifts from deposits into currency under a fractional-reserve banking system. Terms of use: Documents in

show abstract

De Finetti, Friedman, and the methodology of positive economics

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

Corrado Gini (1884–1965): The Leading Figure of the Italian Group in the Econometric Society

Corrado Gini (1884–1965): The Leading Figure of the Italian Group in the Econometric Society

How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists

How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About