Leijonhufvud Papers

6 September 2006 at 9:21 am Nicolai Foss 3 comments

| Nicolai Foss |

Here is one more entry in the ongoing O&M Leijonhufvud feuilleton. Leijonhufvud is still alive and kicking, and has a couple of very nice downloadable working papers in the series of the Department of Economics, University of Trento (downloadable here).

In “The Uses of the Past,” a keynote speech to the European Association of the History of Economic Thought, Leijonhufvud takes issue with the

… misconception … that neoclassical economics was always about optimizing and equilibrium. Up at least through the 1950s, neoclassical economists always distinguished between static and dynamic theory. Dynamics referred, on the one hand, to the adaptation of individuals and, on the other, to the market process whereby they collectively groped towards equilibrium. Equilibria were understood as the point attractors of these processes. Static theory dealt with the property of these attractors … What is called dynamic theory today is just the generalization of the old static theory.

Entry filed under: - Foss -, Recommended Reading.

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3 Comments Add your own

1. Peter Klein | 6 September 2006 at 9:47 am

I have nothing of substance to add to the Leijonhufvud series, but will share one story. Leijonhufvud is also well known — among non-Swedish speakers, at least — for his impossible-to-pronounce last name. I heard of one lecture where the moderator did this: “It’s a pleasure to introduce Professor Lei . . . Leijon . . . um, can I just call you Alex?”
2. Dick Langlois | 6 September 2006 at 10:46 am

Many years ago Axel pointed out to me that his last name was on H. L. Mencken’s short list of names that would make life in the United States inordinately difficult. Apparently it means “lion’s head” in archaically spelled Swedish.
3. Nicolai Foss | 6 September 2006 at 11:26 am

Dick, I think the only difference relative to modern Swedish is the inclusion of an “f” in “hufvud” (but we need some of our Swedish readers to confirm this; I am a mere Dane). The Leijonhufvud familiy is ancient nobility (what the Swedes call “Uradel”, that is, nobility that can trace its history back before 1400).