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The Role of Numeracy in the History of Economic Analysis

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  • Rima, Ingrid H.

Abstract

The popular view among many contemporary economists is that our predecessors were literate but not numerate. Their myopia is curious to those who have the benefit of greater historical perspective. Many early practitioners of political economy can be credited with recognizing that, by their very nature, the problems in which they were interested required them to measure, quantify and enumerate. From the seventeenth century onwards, inquiring minds had already learned to distrust information and ideas that derived from the then traditional qualitative approach to science, which described the sensations associated with objects and events. William Petty's Political Arithmetic is a case in point; it aimed not simply to record and describe reality in terms of

Suggested Citation

  • Rima, Ingrid H., 1994. "The Role of Numeracy in the History of Economic Analysis," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 188-201, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jhisec:v:16:y:1994:i:02:p:188-201_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Tae‐Hee Jo, 2011. "Social Provisioning Process and Socio‐Economic Modeling," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(5), pages 1094-1116, November.
    2. Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina & Zacchia, Giulia, 2024. "The History Of Economic Thought From The Viewpoint Of Hes Presidential Addresses," SocArXiv wt9rp, Center for Open Science.

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