John Von Neumann and Modern Economics

This volume analyzes the work of John von Neumann, whose seminal 1937 paper on the model of an expanding economy revolutionized modern economics and led to the revival of classical political economy. The contributors, who include two Nobel Laureates, put von Neumann's techniques and methodology into perspective and examine the conceptual significance of his work. Their papers discuss his growth model in historical perspective, relate it to game theory and supply a retrospective analysis of his contribution.Table of ContentPart 1 Von Neumann's growth model in historical perspective: von Neumann and the existence theorem for general equilibrium, Kenneth J.Arrow; von Neumann and Karl Menger's mathematical colloquium, Lionello F.Punzo. Part 2 Von Neumann's growth model - the central questions: John von Neumann's model of an expanding economy - an essay in interpretation, Sukhamoy Chakravarty; the legacy of John von Neumann, Mohammed H.I.Dore; a revisionist view of von Neumann's growth model, Paul A.Samuelson. Part 3 Von Neumann's growth model and dynamics: swinging along the Autostrada - cyclical fluctuations along the von Neumann ray, Richard M.Goodwin; economics and thermodynamics, Andrew Brody. Part 4 Von Neumann's growth model and game theory: game theoretic growth - a numerical illustration, Mohammed H.I.Dore; an equilibrium-point interpretation of the von Neumann-Morgenstern solution and a proposed alternative definition, John C.Harsanyi. Part 5 Von Neumann's growth model - retrospective and reformulation: von Neumann's economic model, Sidney N.Afriat; John von Neumann's contributions to mathematical programming economics, Gerald L.Thompson.