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Journal of Economic Literature Vol. 53 No. 2 2015

Revisiting Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis

Roger E. Backhouse

University of Birmingham

open access

Abstract

Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis played a major role in defining how economic theory was undertaken for many years after the Second World War. This paper fills out Samuelson's account of the book's origins and corrects some details, making clear his debt to E. B. Wilson and establishes that turning the thesis into a book was a long process. The contents of the book and its reception are then reviewed.

DOI
10.1257/jel.53.2.326
Volume
53
Issue
2
Pages
326-350
Language
en
Sources
crossref openalex

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