Mathematical Investigations In The Theory Of Value And Prices.

"Widely regarded as the greatest economist America has produced Fisher put his early training in mathematics and physics to work in his doctoral dissertation on the theory of general equilibrium. Throughout his career his example and his teachings advanced the application of quantitative method not only in economic theory but also in statistical inquiry Much of standard neoclassical theory today is Fisherian in origin, style, spirit and substance. In particular, most modern models of capital and interest are essentially variations on Fisher’s theme, the conjunction of intertemporal choices and opportunities. Likewise, his theory of money and prices is the foundation for much contemporary monetary economics To this day Fisher’s successors are often rediscovering, consciously or unconsciously, Fisher’s ideas and building upon them. He can be credited with distributed lag regression, life-cycle saving theory, the ‘Phillips curve,’ the case for taxing consumption rather than ‘income,’ the modern quantity theory of money, the distinction between real and nominal interest rates, and many more standard tools in economist’s kits Fisher’s search for conceptual clarity about ‘the nature of capital and income’ led him not only to lay the foundations of modern social accounting, but also to argue that income taxation wrongly puts saving in double jeopardy. Fisher tuned his talents to monetary theory because he suspected that economic instability was largely the fault of existing monetary institutions. His ‘debt-deflation theory of depression’ was motivated by the disasters the Great Depression visited upon the world" (New Palgrave II).