Is Behavioural Economics the New Mainstream?

Hartmut Kliemt first traces the concept of the homo oeconomicus back to the philosophy of Spinoza and Hobbes. Then he addresses criticisms of this concept in particular by discussing the ultimatum game as a strong piece of counterevidence. After this, he outlines a difference in the behavioural sciences between internal perspectives that seek to understand actors' cognitive processes and external perspectives, which look at observed behaviour only.

In this keynote speech, Roger Backhouse gives a historical overview of theories on secular stagnation: how it evolved from a description of the economic situation, especially in the U.S. of the 1930s to an analytical tool and then lost importance until its current revival. Backhouse touches upon the contributions of J. A. Hobson, Alvin Hansen, Evsey Domar and Paul Samuelson.