From Political Economy to Economics: How Statistics, Graphs, and the State Forged Twentieth Century Economics

Ricardo Alejandro Peña Pinzón

Econógrafos, Escuela de Economía from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID

Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to present not only the entrance but also the effect Statistics had upon the consolidation of Economics and its further influence in state intervention. The traditional method of Political Economy in the late nineteenth century disregarded Statistics as a valid approach to acquire economic knowledge. This paradigm was changed, amongst others, by the American Wesley C. Mitchell and the Englishman William Stanley Jevons, who used graphs and statistics as part of the “economic toolset” for research for causal relationships. Furthermore, Statistics only entered state intervention and planning after mayor crises (the World Wars and the Great Depression) forced states to play an active role in the economy. This essay will focus on the experience of the United States and the United Kingdom on these matters.

Keywords: Statistics; Wesley C. Mitchell; William Stanley Jevons; state intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B22 B23 B41 N01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18
Date: 2020-08
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Published in Econografos

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:col:000176:022720

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