The full extent of Frank Ramsey’s precociousness has yet to be discovered. Although his major economic articles in the late 1920s have been widely discussed by the historians of economic thought, it is the objective of this paper to show the significance of Ramsey’s Apostle talks delivered in the mid 1920s for the economics’ profession. I first discuss how Ramsey’s broad intellectual interests manifest themselves in his Apostle talks of the mid-1920s. In particular, I argue Ramsey had a coherent take with regards to three lively intellectual movements of his time; namely,...

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.