« Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact (book presentation) » with Verena HALSMAYER (Wien Universitat)

Le prochain séminaire « Histoire de la Macroéconomie et des Théories Monétaires » (H2M), séminaire ouvert, aura lieu le vendredi 20 février 2026 à La Maison des Sciences Économiques (106-112 boulevard de l'hôpital, 75013 Paris, Métro Campo-Formio) de 17h30 à 19h / salle des thèses (6e étage). Nous aurons le grand plaisir d’accueillir :

Verena HALSMAYER, Universität Wien :

« Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact (book presentation) »
                                               

Résumé : Between the 1930s and 1960s, economics turned into a “modeling science,” producing knowledge primarily through small-scale mathematical models. What kind of thinking came with the new research practices? Which epistemic and political hopes came with different ways of modeling? The book centers on the so-called “Solow model,” which turned from an incidental byproduct of other research into an epistemic standard of economics—at the expense of other forms of knowledge. Through a historical investigation of practices of measurement and modeling, I focused on the concrete aspects of economic abstractions and examined how this model supported various visions of a world characterized by stable growth. Due to its “heroic assumptions,” the model turned, in some quarters, from a blueprint of interventionist economics into a symbol of the belief in the omnipotence of markets, becoming far more than just a contribution to economic theory. The presentation invites reflection on the effects of models and the exclusions they entail.

Lien Zoom : https://pantheonsorbonne.zoom.us/j/93263846862?pwd=Jola47AogzfNnp6H75U7…