University of Helsinki
Our next Physics Colloquium will take place on Friday, November 11th. We will have a presentation given by Visa Heinonen and Mika Pantzar, professors from the Faculty of Social Sciences (UH).
They will open the academic history of economics through the writings of two classics, John Maynard Keynes and John von Neumann. In the 1930s, Keynes questioned the policy doctrines underlying the equilibrium theory of economics, emphasized the importance of uncertainty and highlighted aggregate demand – consumption and investments – as a determinant of gross domestic product. Von Neumann, on the other hand, was a scientific all-rounder, whose early history focused on the discussion of the development of quantum mechanics and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. As a computer developer, von Neumann drew his ideas from brain physiology and especially from the modeling of neural networks. Economists know von Neumann as the father of game theory and mathematical economics, in specific equilibrium theory. However, practical economic policy draws only to a limited extent from economic theoretical thinking and, for example, national accounting systems affect the way we see today the dynamics of the economy. Visa Heinonen and Mika Pantzar have studied the Finnish economic policy debate using computer-assisted rhetorical analysis. According to them, for example, the prevailing understanding of the nature of the national economy’s productivity is based on biblical metaphors and gendered deep structures.
In this colloquium, titled What you always wanted to know about economics but didn’t dare to ask?, Visa and Mika will introduce us to contemporary economics.
The event will be held on Friday 11.11.22 at 14:15, in Physicum E204.