Foundations Economic Analysis by Samuelson Paul Anthony, Signed (2 results)

First edition, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "This book was written for economists like Roman Weil, Paul A. Samuelson, AB Chicago '35. MIT, June 2001". Weil (1940-2023) was a faculty member of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago from 1965 to 2008, where he was especially known for his work on bond duration. He has inserted a pencilled slip, noting, "His textbook & my freshman Yale teacher, G. G. Gaul, turned me on to economics. I didn't look at this till I was a graduate student in the mid 1960s. Didn't mean much to me then or now. Still 1st book by 1st USA Econ. Nobelist, RLW 07/01". Samuelson's inscription refers to his graduation from Chicago in 1935. Foundations is the Nobel prize-winning economist's first book, based on his Harvard doctoral dissertation, which established mathematics as the foundation of economics. "More than anyone else he [Samuelson] bears responsibility for the mathematical bent of economics in the late 20th century" (Pressman, pp. 162-3). Samuelson shows that the common mathematical structure underlying multiple branches of economics is based on a set of basic principles: the optimizing behaviour of agents and the stability of equilibrium for economic systems. Fundaburk 2039; Mattioli 3186. Steven Pressman, Fifty Major Economists, 1999. Octavo. Tables, graphs, and formulas in the text. Original red cloth, spine lettered and with publisher's device in gilt, covers panelled in blind. Housed in custom brown quarter cloth solander box. Spine very slightly sunned, extremities very slightly rubbed, contents clean and unmarked. A very good copy.

First edition, first printing, with a loosely inserted slip signed by Samuelson at MIT in 1979, and formerly belonging to Ragnar Nurkse (1907-2007), a key founder of development economics, with his ink signature on the front free endpaper. In 1947, Nurkse had just joined Columbia University as an associate professor of economics. Interestingly, Samuelson does not appear to have been sympathetic to development economics, warning in 2004 that continued economic integration of global markets would damage high-wage jobs in more highly developed countries. Foundations is the Nobel Prize-winning economist's first book, which established mathematics as the foundation of economics, rather than an addendum. It is based on Samuelson's doctoral dissertation at Harvard. "Regarded by most economists as providing the mathematical foundations for contemporary economics. more than anyone else he bears responsibility for the mathematical bent of economics in the late 20th century" (Pressman, pp. 162-3). Samuelson demonstrates that the common mathematical structure underlying multiple branches of economics is based on a set of basic principles: the optimizing behaviour of agents and the stability of equilibrium for economic systems. Fundaburk 2039; Mattioli 3186. Steven Pressman, Fifty Major Economists, 1999. Octavo. Tables, graphs, and formulas in the text. Original red cloth, spine lettered and with publisher's device in gilt, covers panelled in blind. Short pencil annotation on p. x. Cloth bright, minimal bumping and rubbing, faint toning to spine, minor browning and foxing to outer leaves: a very good copy indeed.