| dc.description.abstract | In the 19th and 20th centuries economists of the German and Swedish
language areas strongly influenced each other and made significant contributions to
the development and critique of neoclassical economics. In our paper, we focus on
the prominent contributions of Wicksell, Cassel, Hayek and Myrdal, but consider
also others, such as Lutz, Neisser, Palander and Schneider. It might look far fetched
to describe their interaction as a “Baltic exchange”, since (for example) Vienna is not
part of that region. But history and geographical proximity made German the
scientific language for Scandinavian academics in the 19th century, helping Swedish
economists to spread their ideas widely on the Continent, before they made an
impact in the English language area. Much of the interaction happened indeed close
to the Baltic Sea. In the paper we discuss the German influence on Swedish
economics that occurred mainly before the First World War, and the Swedish
influence on German economics, mainly thereafter. We provide biographical,
bibliographical and textual evidence for an exchange of ideas that has stimulated the
development of economics far beyond the Baltic Sea. | en |
