Jan Tinbergen (1903–1994) and the Rise of Economic Expertise (Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics)

Jan Tinbergen was the first Nobel Prize winner in Economics and one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. This book argues that his crucial contribution is the theory of economic policy and the legitimation of economic expertise in service of the state. It traces his youthful socialist ideals which found political direction in the Plan-socialist movement of the 1930s for which he developed new economic models to combat the Great Depression. After World War II he was able to synthesize that work into a theory of economic policy which not only provided a lasting framework for economic policy around the world, but also secured a permanent place for economic experts close to government. The book then turns to an examination of his attempt to repeat this achievement in the development projects in the Global South and at the international level for the United Nations. "Economists are, in our day and age, best known as policy experts. This book is about one of them, Jan Tinbergen. He paved the way for this new type of economist. The economic expert is a government functionary, who works in service of the economic and social goals of government. The rise of the economic expert was intimately connected with a change in what was considered the most valuable sort of economic knowledge. For the expert an economy is not a natural system he studies like a physicist would, but a system which he can steer. and improve. The rise of expertise also gave birth to new types of institutions: business-cycle institutes, planning offices, forecasting bureaus, and international organizations of economic expertise.. Economists have, of course, always been concerned with policy. From (free) trade regimes, the best way to manage the currency, and the role of the state in the provision of public goods, policy questions have never been far from the mind of economists. But they typically did so in their role as professor and public intellectual. Economists since Adam Smith., and undoubtedly before him, have played an important role in shaping the thought of both politicians and the public about markets and trade, and the proper functions of the state. They often also had the ear of those in charge. The most famous economist of the past century, John Maynard Keynes., had the ear of the politicians in Britain of his age, and his ideas had influence across the world"-- Provided by publisher 04.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 05.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication 06.0_pp_vii_x_Contents 07.0_pp_xi_xiv_List_of_FiguresTables 08.0_pp_xv_xviii_Preface 09.0_pp_xix_xxii_Acknowledgments 10.0_pp_1_160_Becoming_an_Economic_Expert 10.1_pp_3_16_The_Construction_of_Peace 10.2_pp_17_32_A_Progressive_Education 10.3_pp_33_59_The_Bourgeois_Socialist 10.4_pp_60_93_From_Ehrenfest_to_the_Econometric_Society 10.5_pp_94_124_Hendrik_de_Man_and_Jan_Tinbergen 10.6_pp_125_154_Macro-dynamics_and_the_Problem_of_Unemployment 10.7_pp_155_160_The_Rise_of_the_Peoples_Party_Volkspartei_and_the_Economics_of_the_General_Interest 11.0_pp_161_258_The_Years_of_High_Expertise 11.1_pp_163_191_From_The_Hague_to_Geneva 11.2_pp_192_221_Fascism_at_Home 11.3_pp_222_248_Tinbergens_Theory_of_Economic_Policymaking 11.4_pp_249_258_The_Expert_in_the_Model_the_Economist_outside_the_Model 12.0_pp_259_372_Global_Expertise 12.1_pp_261_286_Opening_up_Vistas 12.2_pp_287_308_Development_Planning_on_Paper 12.3_pp_309_335_Development_Planning_on_the_Ground 12.4_pp_336_362_Sometime_the_Twain_Shall_Meet_The_Optimal_Order 12.5_pp_363_372_Expertise_Far_from_Home 13.0_pp_373_430_The_Limits_of_Expertise 13.1_pp_375_392_Measuring_the_Unmeasurable 13.2_pp_393_413_Governing_the_Ungovernable 13.3_pp_414_430_Expert_or_Idealist 14.0_pp_431_454_Bibliography 15.0_pp_455_463_Index 16.0_pp_464_466_Series_page