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MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS COMES TO AMERICA: CHARLES S. PEIRCE’S ENGAGEMENT WITH COURNOT’S RECHERCHES SUR LES PRINCIPES MATHÉMATIQUES DE LA THÉORIE DES RICHESSES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2015

James R. Wible  and
Kevin D. Hoover
James R. Wible
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, [email protected]
Kevin D. Hoover
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Department of Philosophy, Duke University, Durham, NC, [email protected].
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Abstract

Although Cournot’s mathematical economics was generally neglected until the mid-1870s, he was taken up and carefully studied by the Scientific Club of Cambridge, Massachusetts, even before his “discovery” by Walras and Jevons. The episode is reconstructed from fragmentary manuscripts of the pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce, a sophisticated mathematician. Peirce provides a subtle interpretation and anticipates Bertrand’s criticisms.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , December 2015 , pp. 511 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2015 

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