A World Before Fisher

Abstract

Milton Friedman, the icon of laissez-faire economics, called Irving Fisher “the greatest economist the United States has ever produced.”² To place his contributions in context, let us first outline the level of sophistication before Fisher’s insights at the cusp of the twentieth century. As we do so, we will see that a novel insight into a familiar problem is the hallmark of a great mind. We also see that great minds often take innovative concepts much further than could be contemplated by others at the time. Once we understand their enlightenment, their innovations seem obvious.