I am a PhD student in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Vienna. My research interests lie at the crossroads of the history and philosophy of the social sciences, historical epistemology, and the history of social engineering and economic governance.
Dates of Visit: 03/10/2013 - 13/12/2013
Email: V.Halsmayer@lse.ac.uk
Project Title: Modeling, Measuring and Designing Economic Growth. The Story of Solow's Model as an Object of Postwar Technical Economics.
Project Description: In 1956 Robert M. Solow published "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth." The model he presented was to become an iconic symbol of modern mainstream macroeconomics. Through following the traces and paths of "the Solow model" from the 1930s to the 1960s as an exemplary case, my project displays the postwar development of a specific form of "technical economics" on two levels: creating economic knowledge via the construction of an artifact, and fashioning technologies for economic policy-making on the basis of that artifact.