The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School
Nordic Journal of Political Economy Volume 33 2007 Article 1 The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School ‡ Ib E. Eriksen* Tore Jørgen Hanisch † Arild Sæther * University of Agder, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Kristiansand, Norway ‡ University of Agder, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Kristiansand, Norway † University of Agder, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Kristiansand, Norway This article can be dowloaded from: http://www.nopecjournal.org/NOPEC_2007_a01.pdf Other articles from the Nordic Journal of Political Economy can be found at: http://www.nopecjournal.org The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School 1 Ib E. Eriksen, Tore Jørgen Hanisch1, Arild Sæther The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School2 Abstract In 1931 Ragnar Frisch became professor at the University of Oslo. By way of his research, a new study programme and new staff he created the ”Oslo School”, characterised by mathematical modelling, econometrics, economic planning and scepticism towards the market economy. Consequently, detailed state economic planning and governance dominated Norwegian economic policy for three decades after WWII. In the 1970s the School’s dominance came to an end when the belief in competitive markets gained a foothold and the economy had poor performance. As a result a decentralized market economy was reintroduced. However, mathematical modelling and econometrics remain in the core of most economic programmes. JEL classification: B23, B29,B31, B59, O21, P41, P51 1. Introduction The main purpose of this presentation is to tell the story of how Ragnar Frisch founded the so-called Oslo School in economics, and secondly, to outline the main features of this School and investigate its major influence on the Norwegian post-war economy.
[Show full text]