When Modern Economics Learned French Jacques Drèze and the Foundation of CORE Till Düppe1 July 2015 Abstract: The Center of Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE), founded in 1966, was one of the channels through which economic modelling practices were imported from the U.S. to Europe. Officially modelled after the Cowles Foundation for Economics Research, it rather reflected Jacques Drèze’s broad experiences in the U.S. during the 1950s when modelling techniques were not yet anchored in disciplines. CORE gained international reputation however, through the rather exclusive community of Neo-Walrasian economists represented by Werner Hildenbrand, Jean Gabszewicz, and Gérard Debreu. After this community has modified the disciplinary divisions at CORE, the influence of CORE on continental economics happened mainly through disequilibrium economics that still stands for a “French accent” in modern macroeconomics. At the same time, operations research and econometrics prospered at CORE without receiving much attention by economists. This essay tells the story of how CORE changed continental economics through the unique career path of its founder, Jacques Drèze. Key Words: continental economics, disciplinary formation, Neo-Walrasian economics, disequilibrium economics, Jacques Drèze. Word-Count: ca. 13.000 1 Assistant Professor, Department of economics, Université du Québec à Montréal, Pavillon des Sciences de la gestion, 315, Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Montréal (Québec), H2X 3X2, Canada, e- mail:
[email protected]. I thank Jacques Drèze, Pierre Pestieau, Jean Gabszewicz, Claude d’Aspremont, Michel Mouchart, Laurence Wolsey, and Sheila Weyers for sharing their point of view on the first decade of CORE. I am also grateful for comments received for a previous version from the same list of people.