European Economics and the Early Years of the International Seminar on Macroeconomics

Abstract

The International Seminar on Macroeconomics (ISoM) is an annual conference, which was co-sponsored during 15 years (1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993) by the French EHESS and the NBER. This article uncovers the scientific and institutional dynamics unrolling from this cooperation. We argue that the ISoM contributed greatly to the making of a European network of economists sharing similar professional and intellectual standards: indeed, the Seminar gathered macroeconomists who were leading the development of this European network.We illustrate how the ISoM stood at the crossroad of two types of 'internationalisation' of economics: the integration of European national communities and the process of 'Americanisation' of economics. While existing literature on 'internationalisation' focuses on the national level, our contribution investigates the European level. Moreover, we unveil how two research programmes in macroeconomics (namely the disequilibrium theory and large-scale macroeconometric modelling) played a significant role in this process.

An independent European macroeconomics? A history of European macroeconomics through the lens of the European Economic Review

“…In line with the claims made by Portes (1987) and Goutsmedt et al (2021), disequilibrium theory emerges as a unifying framework for European macroeconomics between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s. If initially it served as a theoretical research program aimed at advancing general equilibrium theory, it also became an interpretative framework for explaining stagflation and the European unemployment problem following the 1970s (see Section 4.3).…”

“…He mentioned the prominence in Europe of "general equilibrium theory," "international macroeconomic policy coordination," or "Non-Walrasian macroeconomics" (ibid.). Goutsmedt et al (2021) have also highlighted that within the International Seminar on Macroeconomics (ISoM), whose annual proceedings were published in the EER, disequilibrium macroeconomics and large-scale macroeconometric modelling constituted important rallying research programs until the mid-1980s for European economists involved in the ISoM. 3 The purpose of our article is to investigate systematically and quantitatively the development and persistence of European specificities in macroeconomics.…”

“…3 and 4;Fourcade, 2006). 1 This internationalisation was, to some extent, a form of "Americanisation" (Coats, 1996;Goutsmedt et al, 2021): US professional and intellectual standards were progressively adopted in European countries, mimicking the functioning of the US academic field. English emerged as the dominant language in economics (Sandelin and Ranki, 1997), and publications in peer-review journals became the norm for assessing research productivity.…”

“…English emerged as the dominant language in economics (Sandelin and Ranki, 1997), and publications in peer-review journals became the norm for assessing research productivity. The organisation of international events was encouraged to enhance the visibility of research centres (Cherrier and Saïdi, 2021;Goutsmedt et al, 2021). In terms of content, the Americanisation of the discipline in Europe favoured the spreading of intellectual standards that had become widespread in the US during the postwar era (Morgan and Rutherford, 1998): the use of mathematical economics and econometrics, and the reliance on neoclassical theory as a benchmark for modelling.…”

“…7 and 8), reveals that European countries, excluding the UK, were better represented in the EER. 1969-19751976-198919901998-2002 1975 1976-1982 1983-1989 1990-1996 1997-2002 1975 1976-1982 1983-1989 1990-1996 1997-2002 The EER was one of these crucial initiatives that contributed to a Europeanisation of economics and the development of intellectual exchanges between European-based economists (Goutsmedt et al, 2021). The centrality of the journal was strengthened in 1984 when the European Economic Association was created, and the EER was established as the official journal of the new association.…”