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Frank H. Hahn

Frank H. Hahn is a professor of economics at Cambridge University. He was born in Berlin and received his education at the London School of Economics (LSE). According to Hahn, though the study of economics is very useful and important, it should not be considered a hard science. In,"Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies", Frank Hahn had the following to say regarding economic theory:

"Economic theory at its best is a powerful aid to thought about the world, not because it provides a very satisfactory description, but because it provides clear limits to understanding. It also weeds out genuine nonsense, since many actors on the economic stage (e.g., politicians and bankers) start with the same assumptions but cannot think their way through entailed conclusions. Nonetheless, this leaves us with a whole set of possible worlds. Indeed, economists who understand what they are doing will have this fact always before them, and in this realization will be a good part of their usefulness, for "practical" people want certainties and despise "on the one hand" and "on the other". One of our functions is, I believe, to teach them otherwise and so give a helping hand on the road of humanity away from magic."

Frank Hahn was very interested in General Equilibrium Theory and its degree of relevance. In, "On the Notion of Equilibrium in Economics: An Inaugural Letter" hahn had the following to say about the GE Theory:

"We thus find it reasonable to require our equilibrium notion that it should reflect the sequential character of actual economies...This in turn requires that information processes and costs, transactions and transactions costs and also expectations and uncertainty be explicitly and essentially included in the equilibrium notion. This is what the Arrow-Debreu construction does not do. I do not believe that therefore it is quite useless. But certainly it is the case that it must relinquish the claim of providing necessary descriptions of terminal states of economic processes."

Works by Frank H. Hahn:

  • General Competitive Analysis
  • In Praise of Economic Theory
  • The Share of Wages In National Income:An inquiry Into the Theory of Distribution
  • On the Notion of Equilibrium in Economics: An Inaugural Letter
  • The Winter of our Discontent, Economica
  • Autobiographical Notes With Reflections, Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies
  • Monetarism and Economic Theory, Economica

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