"Had it merely called to our attention the existence and exact nature of certain fundamental gaps in economic theory, the Theory of Economic Behavior by von Neumann and Morgenstern would have been a book of outstanding importance. But it does more than that. It is essentially constructive: where existing theory is considered to be inadequate, the authors put in its place a highly novel analytical apparatus designed to cope with the problem. It would be doing the authors an injustice to say that theirs is a contribution to economics only. The scope of the book is much broader. The techniques applied by the authors in tackling economic problems are of sufficient generality to be valid in political science, sociology, or even military strategy. The applicability to games proper (chess and poker) is obvious from the title. Moreover, the book is of considerable interest from a purely mathematical point of view."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Leonid Hurwicz. "The Theory of Economic Behavior," The American Economic Review, Vol. 35, No. 5 (Dec., 1945), pp. 909: Lead paragraphs of the article.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oskar_Morgenstern
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Oskar Morgenstern
Oskar Morgenstern (January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was a German-born economist, and prominent member of the Austrian School of Economics before the Second World War. Later in collaboration with mathematician John von Neumann, he founded the mathematical field of game theory and its application to economics.
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Oskar Morgenstern →
Related Quotes
"Recovery is therefore something much more elemental. It aims at continuation of life, on a simple and primitive basis…"
"As far as the use of mathematics in economics is concerned, there is an abundance of formulas where such are not need…"
"Alliances are always weaker in peacetime; alliances tend to become hard and fast and strong when things are going bad…"
"All economic decisions, whether private or business, as well as those involving economic policy, have the characteris…"
"Wherever mathematics has entered it has never again been pushed out by other developments. The mathematization of an …"
"The theory of games was first formalised by Von Neumann & Morgenstern (1953) in reference to human economic behaviour…"
"My first contact with game theory was a popular article in Fortune Magazine which I read in my last high school year.…"
"By the end of the war the new game theoretic methods that had been developed by von Neumann and Morgenstern were adde…"
"Military necessity, as understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are …"
"Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons whose dest…"