Epilogue: The ‘New Generation’ of Oxford Economists and the ‘New’ Oxford Economics

Abstract

What we have described above as a distinctly Oxford style of economic inquiry, that is an eclectic approach to theory grounded in empiricism did not fade away with the retirement of Hicks from the Drummond Professorship in 1965 and Harrod from the Nuffield Readership in 1967, for both remained quite active, as can be seen in their respective books and articles. Moreover, a ‘new generation’ of Oxford economists had emerged to take on the task of continuing the theoretical and empirical research programmes developed by their predecessors, and even expanded their activities into new areas of economic inquiry. Indeed, it may be said that the path set by Harrod, Hicks and Meade in the 1930s not only influenced many economists outside Oxford, but the wide scope of their activities from the 1930s onward enabled the ‘new generation’ of Oxford economists to both refine and expand their respective theoretical approaches and the empirical research their work stimulated.