Configuring the Economy The Emergence of a Modelling Practice in the Netherlands, 1920-1955

Despite its crucial role in modern society, mathematization as a phenomenon has hardly been studied. The Dutch Central Planning Bureau (CPB) is an example of a powerful institute in the preparation of economic policy whose influence is largely based on their mathematical representations of the national economy. This book analyses the emergence of the Dutch Central Planning Bureau to shed light on two fundamental questions: how does a process of mathematization take place and what are its consequences? The Dutch case is compared with the emergence of planning and mathematization in France and Norway. The book shows that mathematical constructions are not objective facts but outcomes of complex intellectual, socio-economic, cultural and political processes. For example, the national economy didn't simply unveil its mathematical structure to us but it had to be configured in such a way that it could be described in macro-econometric models.Bogaard, Adrienne Van Den is the author of 'Configuring the Economy The Emergence of a Modelling Practice in the Netherlands, 1920-1955' with ISBN 9789051704679 and ISBN 9051704674.