Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2020
This paper explores the history of the first economics film, made by Michael Polanyi. It traces the evolution of the film from the first idea to the latest version. It portrays Polanyi’s motives for making the film, the contexts in which the film was embedded, and its perception by various individuals and communities. The paper demonstrates the novelty of both the content and the presentation of Polanyi’s economic ideas through the eyes of his contemporaries. It discusses why it was important for Polanyi to make a film about the circulation of money and the principle of neutrality, and comments on what historiographers of economic thought might learn if they put a stronger emphasis on visual representations in their pursuits.
Gábor István Bíró, biro.gabor.istvan@filozofia.bme.hu, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and Institute of Philosophy, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This paper was supported by the MTA BTK Lendület Morals and Science Research Group. I would like to thank the two anonymous referees of the JHET. I am grateful to Phil Mullins, president of the Polanyi Society, for his insightful advice about how to improve this paper. I thank Ádám Tamás Tuboly for his careful reading of the parts on Otto Neurath.