Irving Fisher made seminal contributions across an astonishing spectrum of economic science: monetary policy rules, the neoclassical theory of capital and interest, expected inflation as the difference between real and nominal interest, the Fisher "ideal" index number, indexed bonds, correlation analysis, distributed lags, the "Phillips curve," the debt-deflation process, taxing consumption rather than income, the value of human capital and improvement in health, even the computation of general equilibrium. On May 8 and 9, 1998, economists gathered at Fisher's university, Yale, to celebrate his contributions and to examine themes in economics suggested by his work. The publication of William Barber's 14-volume edition of The Works of Irving Fisher in 1997, the 50th anniversary of Fisher's death, provided a suitable occasion for reflecting on Fisher's legacy and inspiration for economics. This volume contains revised versions of the papers and comments presented on that occasion, together with other writings on Fisher by James Tobin.
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