Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T18:00:15.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MICHAEL POLANYI’S NEUTRAL KEYNESIANISM AND THE FIRST ECONOMICS FILM, 1933 TO 1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2020

Gábor István Bíró Open the ORCID record for Gábor István Bíró [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper explores the history of the first economics film, made by Michael Polanyi. It traces the evolution of the film from the first idea to the latest version. It portrays Polanyi’s motives for making the film, the contexts in which the film was embedded, and its perception by various individuals and communities. The paper demonstrates the novelty of both the content and the presentation of Polanyi’s economic ideas through the eyes of his contemporaries. It discusses why it was important for Polanyi to make a film about the circulation of money and the principle of neutrality, and comments on what historiographers of economic thought might learn if they put a stronger emphasis on visual representations in their pursuits.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 335 - 356
Copyright
© The History of Economics Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Gábor István Bíró, [email protected], Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and Institute of Philosophy, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This paper was supported by the MTA BTK Lendület Morals and Science Research Group. I would like to thank the two anonymous referees of the JHET. I am grateful to Phil Mullins, president of the Polanyi Society, for his insightful advice about how to improve this paper. I thank Ádám Tamás Tuboly for his careful reading of the parts on Otto Neurath.

References

REFERENCES

Allen, Richard T. 1998. Beyond Liberalism: The Political Thought of F. A. Hayek and Michael Polanyi. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Angell, Norman. 1928. The Money Game: How to Play It: A New Instrument of Economic Education. London: J. M. Dent & Sons.Google Scholar
Arndt, Heinz W. 1946. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” International Affairs 22 (4): 567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Backhouse, Roger, and Giraud, Yann. 2010. "Circular Flow Diagrams.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 221–229.Google Scholar
Balogh, Thomas. 1946. “World Economic Reconstruction.” The New Statesman and Nation, 6 April 1946, pp. 252–253.Google Scholar
Beddeleem, Martin. 2017. “Fighting for the Mantle of Science: The Epistemological Foundations of Neoliberalism, 1931–1951.” PhD dissertation, Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Beira, Eduardo. 2014. “’Visual Presentation of Social Matters’ as a Foundational Text of Michael Polanyi’s Thought.” Tradition & Discovery 41 (2): 6–12.Google Scholar
Beira, Eduardo. 2015. “Reviews of the ‘Economic Film’ (Polanyi 1938, 1940).” WP131. Working Papers “Mercados e Negócios.”Google Scholar
Beira, Eduardo. 2016. “’On Popular Education in Economics’: Another Foundational Text of Michael Polanyi’s Thought.” Tradition & Discovery 42 (3): 8–17.Google Scholar
Beira, Eduardo. 2017. “Michael Polanyi in the Press: Manchester Guardian (1928–39).” WP120b. Working Papers “Mercados e Negócios.”Google Scholar
Bíró, Gábor István. 2017. “Projecting the Light of Democracy: Michael Polanyi’s Efforts to Save Liberalism via an Economics Film, 1933–48.” PhD dissertation. Budapest University of Technology and Economics.Google Scholar
Bíró, Gábor István. 2019. The Economic Thought of Michael Polanyi. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bladel, John P. 2005. “Against Polanyi-centrism: Hayek and the Re-emergence of ‘Spontaneous Order.’" The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 8 (4): 15–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaug, Mark, and Lloyd, Peter, eds. 2010a. Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaug, Mark, and Lloyd, Peter. 2010b. “Indifference Curves and Isoquants.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 43–49.Google Scholar
Burke, Christopher, et al. 2013. Isotype: Design and Contexts 1925–1971. London: Hyphen Press.Google Scholar
Caldwell, Bruce. 2004. Hayek’s Challenge: An Intellectual Biography of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Clark, Colin. 1939. A Critique of Russian Statistics. London: Macmillan and Co.Google Scholar
Coopmans, Catelijne, et al. 2014. Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited. Cambridge: The MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig Roberts, Paul, and Cott, Norman Van. 1999. “Polanyi’s Economics.” Tradition & Discovery 25 (3): 26–30.Google Scholar
Daston, Lorraine, and Galison, Peter. 2007. Objectivity. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Doudova, Helena, et al. 2018. Image Factories: Infographics 1920–1945: Fritz Kahn, Otto Neurath et al. Leipzig: Spector Books.Google Scholar
Fountain, H. A. 1946. “An Appreciation of Professor Polanyi’s book for Members of the Economic Reform Club and Institute.” Monthly Bulletin of the Economic Reform Club and Institute 11 (3): 3–5.Google Scholar
Frank, Tibor. 2009. Double Exile: Migrations of Jewish-Hungarian Professionals through Germany to the United States, 1919–1945. Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Gilbert, J. C. 1946. “Professor Polanyi’s Full Employment and Free Trade.” The Manchester School 14 (2): 85–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giraud, Yann. 2010. “The Changing Place of Visual Representation in Economics: Paul Samuelson Between Principles and Strategy, 1941–1955.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 32 (2): 175–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giraud, Yann, and Charles, Loïc. 2013. “Economics for the Masses: The Visual Display of Economic Knowledge in the United States (1921–1945).” History of Political Economy 45 (4): 567–612.Google Scholar
Hansen, Alvin H. 1945. American Role in the World Economy. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Harrod, Roy F. 1945. “Full Employment.” Manchester Guardian, 9 November 1945.Google Scholar
Harrod, Roy F. 1946. A Page of British Folly. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Humphrey, Thomas M. 2010. “Marshallian Cross Diagrams.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 29–37.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Struan. 1997. “Michael Polanyi and Spontaneous Order, 1941–1951.” Tradition & Discovery 24 (2): 14–28.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Struan. 1999. “Michael Polanyi’s Theory of Spontaneous Orders.” Review of Austrian Economics 11 (1999): 111–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, Struan. 2015. “Hayek, the ’Spontaneous’ Order and the Social Objectives of Michael Polanyi.” In Leeson, Robert, ed., Hayek: A Collaborative Biography. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 180–196.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Struan, and Mullins, Phil. 2015. “Friedrich Hayek and Michael Polanyi in Correspondence.” History of European Ideas (42) 1: 107–130.Google Scholar
Kakwani, Nanak. 2010. "The Lorenz Curve.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 432–438.Google Scholar
Klein, Judy L. 1995. “The Method of Diagrams and the Black Arts of Inductive Economics.” In Rima, Ingrid, ed., Measurement, Quantification and Economic Analysis. London: Routledge, pp. 98–139.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1923. A Tract on Monetary Reform. London: Macmillan & Co.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1930. A Treatise on Money. London: Macmillan & Co.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1936. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Lindblom, Charles E. 1946.“Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” Journal of Political Economy 54 (5): 463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipsey, Richard. 2010. “The Phillips Curve.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 377–392.Google Scholar
Middleton, Roger. 2010. "The Laffer Curve.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 412–418.Google Scholar
Mirowski, Philip. 1998. “Economics, Science and Knowledge: Polanyi vs. Hayek.” Tradition and Discovery (25) 1: 29–42.Google Scholar
Mirowski, Philip. 2002. Machine Dreams: Economics Becomes a Cyborg Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moodey, Richard W. 2014 “’Visual Presentation of Social Matters’ and Later Changes in Polanyi’s Social Theory.” Tradition & Discovery (41) 2: 25–34.Google Scholar
Mooney, James D. 1934. Apparatus designed to illustrate the laws of economics by physical analogies, patent number: US ref. 1,989,878.Google Scholar
Mooney, James D. 1941. Apparatus for illustrating economic principles, patent number: US ref. 2,297,011.Google Scholar
Mooney, James D. 1947. Apparatus for illustrating economic laws, patent number: US ref. 2,488,423.Google Scholar
Mooney, James D. 1948. Apparatus for illustrating relation between economic profit and loss, patent number: US ref. 2,526,260.Google Scholar
Mooney, James D. 1949. Apparatus for illustrating economics by physical analogies, patent number: US ref. 2,526,261.Google Scholar
Mullins, Phil. 2014. “Comments on Polanyi’s ‘Visual Presentation of Social Matters’.” Tradition & Discovery 41 (2): 35–44.Google Scholar
Nemeth, Elisabeth. 2019. “Visualizing Relations in Society and Economics: Otto Neurath’s Isotype Method Against the Background of his Economic Thought.” In Cat, Jordi and Tuboly, Ádám Tamas, eds., Neurath Reconsidered: New Sources and Perspectives. Cham: Springer, pp. 117–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neurath, Otto. 1936. International Picture Language: The First Rules of Isotype. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd.Google Scholar
Nye, Mary Jo. 2011. Michael Polanyi and His Generation: Origins of the Social Construction of Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pauwels, Luc. 2006. Visual Cultures of Science: Rethinking Representational Practices in Knowledge Building and Science Communication. Hanover: Dartmouth College Press.Google Scholar
Phelps Brown, Ernest H. 1946. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” The Economic Journal 56 (221): 108–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1935a. “U.S.S.R. Economics: Fundamental Data, System, and Spirit.” The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies 6 (Nov.): 67–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1935b. A letter of 24 November 1935 from Oscar Jaszi to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 5, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1935c. A letter of 13 December 1935 from Michael Polanyi to John Grierson. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 5, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1936. “Notes on a Film.” Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 25, Folder 10, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1937a. A letter of 21 January 1937 from Charles V. Sale to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 8, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1937b. “On Popular Education in Economics.” Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 25, Folder 9, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1937c. “Historical Society Lecture.” Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 25, Folder 10, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1937d. “Visual Presentation of Social Matters.” Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 25, Folder 9, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1938a. An Outline of the Working of Money. G.B. Instructional Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1938b. A letter of 4 August 1938 from R. S. Lambert (The British Film Institute) to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 12, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1938c. A letter of 12 December 1938 from Oliver Bell to John Jewkes. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 13, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1938d. “Memorandum on Economic Films.” Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 3, Folder 6, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1940a. Unemployment and Money: The Principles Involved. G.B. Instructional Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1940b. “Economics on the Screen.” Documentary News Letter, August 1940.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1941. “The Growth of Thought in Society.” Economica 8 (23): 428–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1942a. A letter of 20 June 1942 from Basil A. Yeaxlee to Shearman. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 8, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1942b. A letter of 8 July 1942 from Arthur Koestler to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 8, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1943a. A letter of 13 February 1943 from G. D. H. Cole to Harold Shearman. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 9, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1943b. A letter of 13 November 1943 from Michael Polanyi to J. R. Hicks. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 10, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1943c. A letter of 16 November 1943 from J. R. Hicks to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 10, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1944a. A letter of 9 July 1944 from Michael Polanyi to Toni Stolper. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 11, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1944b. A letter of 23 October 1944 from Michael Polanyi to Karl Mannheim. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 11, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1944c. A letter of 22 August 1944 from Joan Robinson to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 11, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1944d. A letter of 18 April 1944 from Michael Polanyi to John Jewkes. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 11, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1944e. A letter of 9 July 1944 from Michael Polanyi to Toni Stolper. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 11, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1945a. Full Employment and Free Trade. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1945b. A letter of 19 March 1945 from Shearman to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 12, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1945c. A letter of 23 April 1945 from Michael Polanyi to Shearman. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 12, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1945d. A letter of 18 April 1945 from Shearman to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 4, Folder 12, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1946a. A letter of 30th April 1946 from E. J. McManus to Michael Polanyi. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1946b. A letter of 2 May 1946 from Michael Polanyi to E. J. McManus. Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1948. Full Employment and Free Trade. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1951. The Logic of Liberty. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1958. Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 1966. The Tacit Dimension. New York: Doubleday & Company.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 2014. “Notes on a Film.” Polanyiana 23(1–2): 56–65.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 2014. “Visual Presentation of Social Matters.” Tradition & Discovery 41 (2): 13–24.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Michael. 2015. “On Popular Education in Economics.” Tradition & Discovery 42 (3): 18–24.Google Scholar
Ritschel, Daniel. 1997. The Politics of Planning: The Debate on Economic Planning in Britain in the 1930s. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruccio, David F. 2008. Economic Representations: Academic and Everyday. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sagar, S. 1946. “Full Employment and Free Minds.” The Weekly Review, 17 January 1946.Google Scholar
Scott, William Taussig, and Moleski, Martin X.. 2005. Michael Polanyi: Scientist and Philosopher. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stead, William. 1946. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (247): 203–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Henry. 2010. "The Stolper-Samuelson Box.” In Blaug, M. and Lloyd, P., eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 300–304.Google Scholar
T., M. R. 1946. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 108 (3/4): 470–471.Google Scholar
Tribe, Keith. 2003. “The Faculty of Commerce and Manchester Economics, 1903–44.” The Manchester School 71 (6): 680–710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuboly, Ádám Tamas. 2019. “United by Action: Neurath in England.” In Rima, Ingrid, ed., Neurath Reconsidered: New Sources and Perspectives. Cham: Springer, pp. 89–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
unknown. 1938. “Money Is Star of This Film.” Evening News, 10 March 1938.Google Scholar
unknown2.1940. “Economics Taught by Film: New Notation for New Ideas.” The Times Educational Supplement, 15 June 1940. London: The Times Publishing Company.Google Scholar
unknown3.1940. “Economics on the Screen.” Documentary News Letter, June.Google Scholar
unknown4.1942. The Film in Economics Classes: A W.E.A. Experiment. London: Workers’ Educational Association.Google Scholar
unknown5.1946. “Following Keynes.” Land & Liberty: Monthly Journal for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade (June): 155–156.Google Scholar
unknown6.1946. “Keynes Made Easier.” Liverpool Daily Post, 9 January 1946.Google Scholar
unknown7.1946. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” The Listener, 7 February 1946, pp. 185–186.Google Scholar
unknown8.1945. “Full Employment and Free Trade by Michael Polanyi.” The Scotsman, 22 December 1945.Google Scholar
unknown9.1946. untitled. The Times: Trade & Engineering, August 1946.Google Scholar
unknown10.1945. “Essence of Keynes.” Yorkshire Post, 19 November 1945.Google Scholar
unknown11.1946. “Capitalism and Work.” The Church Times, 18 January 1946.Google Scholar
unknown12.1940. “Economics by Film.” Yorkshire Post, 26 April 1940.Google Scholar
unknown13.1940. “Economics on the Film.” Times Educational Supplement, 11 May 1940.Google Scholar
unknown14.1940. “Visual Economics.” The Financial Times, 29 April 1940.Google Scholar
unknown15.1940. Untitled. To-Day’s Cinema, 26 April 1940.Google Scholar
unknown16.1938. “First Demonstration of Money Movements.” Nature, 21 May 1938.Google Scholar
Vertesi, Janet. 2014. “Drawing as: Distinctions and Disambiguation in Digital Images of Mars.” In Coopmans, C.et al., eds., Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited. Cambridge: The MIT Press, pp. 15–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vossoughian, Nader. 2008. Otto Neurath: The Language of the Global Polis. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers.Google Scholar
Williams, J. H. 1941. “Economics by Diagrammatic Film: A New Method of Exposition.” Adult Education (June). Michael Polanyi Papers, Box 46, Folder 3, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.Google Scholar
Wilson, T. 1946. “Capitalism and Unemployment.” Time & Tide 27 (37): 880–882.Google Scholar