Original article History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches

Foundations of contemporary economics: Frank H. Knight on uncertainty, capital theory, and the beginnings of the Chicago school

Henrik Egbert - Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Teodor Sedlarski - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Aleksandar B. Todorov - University of Economics – Varna
Received: 01 Jun 2022
Revised:
Published:
Downloads: 0
Citations: 0
Issue 6/2021
JEL B31 B21 B25 B53 D41
DOI https://doi.org/10.56497/etj2166605

Abstract

Frank Knight (1885⎯1972) was an exceptional social scientist and a prolific writer of many reviews and comments on topics in economic theory, philosophy, and ethics. In economics he is best known for his work on uncertainty as a cause for entrepreneurial profit in competitive markets. This is only one of his many contributions that put the market and the price mechanism at center stage. In contrast to many other neoclassical writers, he vehemently criticized the market as a guiding principle to form a society since the market is unethical. Knight considered the economy as a social system and the economic approach as one among many others in social sciences. Knight is a founding father of the Chicago School of Economics. Several of his students became Nobelists.

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