Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

Ragnar Frisch and the Postwar Norwegian Economy: A Critical Comment on Sæther and Eriksen

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Abstract

This article is a critical review of the picture drawn by Arild Sæther and Ib Eriksen (2014) of the economic policy and development of postwar Norway and of the influence exerted by Ragnar Frisch. Regarding the postwar economy the present article draws on a number of comprehensive studies by American and other scholars, and finds that the presentation in Sæther and Eriksen (2014) is seriously flawed. Also flawed is Sæther and Eriksen’s discussion related to Ragnar Frisch’s teaching and general influence. In the characterization of Frisch and to some extent of the Norwegian economists as a group the problem is not so much ignorance as ideological and moralistic bias, leading Sæther and Eriksen astray and relieved from the obligation of providing evidence for assertions, not least for defamatory ones.

This article is a comment on Ragnar Frisch and the Postwar Norwegian Economy by Arild Sæther and Ib E. Eriksen (EJW, January 2014).

Response to this article by Arild Sæther and Ib E. Eriksen: A Reply to Olav Bjerkholt on the Postwar Norwegian Economy (EJW, September 2014).