 Visualizing the gains from trade, mid-1870s to 1962Neil De Marchi The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2003, vol. 10, issue 4, 551-572 Abstract: Visualization in economics was common, and in trade theory almost a primary mode of analysis and demonstration from the late 19th century until the 1960s. Why? This paper presents two versions of the gains from trade notion that have come to us in visual form, one due to Marshall, the other to Viner and Samuelson. The two are very different, a fact better understood against a backdrop of recent neurological research on visualization. A key finding of that work is that our ability to conceive and recognize forms depends on forms previously seen and stored in the brain. Early exposure and nurturing matter greatly. The research also stresses that there is no basis for distinguishing between seeing and understanding. A satisfactory answer to the 'Why?' question thus requires that we attend to audiences and their capabilities, some hints concerning which are offered here. Keywords: Gains from trade; welfare economies; envelope curves; utility possibilities frontier; visual capabilities; seeing and understanding (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:10:y:2003:i:4:p:551-572 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/0967256032000137711 Access Statistics for this article The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought is currently edited by José Luís Cardoso More articles in The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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