In this paper I evaluate the Journal Impact Factor using a theory of measurement.  I argue that JIF does not stand up to close scrutiny. To measure a concept adequately, our theory of measurement requires correspondence between three steps: the characterisation of the concept, its representation, and the procedures followed to carry out the measurement. Characterisation involves defining the concept: identifying its boundaries, which fixes the features that belong to it.  Representation involves defining a metrical system that appropriately represents the concept. The...

Best known as a monetary economist and prominent proponent of monetarism, Karl Brunner was deeply knowledgeable about the philosophy of science and attempted to explicitly integrate logical empiricist thinking, derived in some measure from his engagement with the work of the philosopher Hans Reichenbach, into his economics.  His philosophical commitments are clearly reflected in this empirical work on monetary economics, his monetarist analysis, and in his critical approach to econometrics, microfoundations, and the New Classical macroeconomics.

The following survey has one central theme, which is that HOPE has always been more pluralistic than current members of the profession, who often see the journal as a stronghold for the historical reconstruction method, seem to acknowledge: while some individuals or groups of individuals have suggested bolder inflections for the field over the years, their attempts, while sparking debates and, at times, controversies, have had limited effect on a vast portion of the journal’s content, hinting at the inability to engage the larger community of historians of economics in...