ABSTRACT
Economics evolves in fits and starts as it struggles to come to an understanding of the economy and to provide some guidance for policy. In this evolution there has been an ongoing debate between “formalists,” those economists who believe that the study of economics should consist of a highly formal analysis of the economy, and “nonformalists,” who believe that a less formal, process-oriented analysis of the economy, including relevant historical and institutional elements, is the more appropriate model for economic analysis. Although Leland Yeager falls into the nonformalist category, he is unusual in that he also falls into the committed pluralist category, and he is always considering and integrating subtle ideas developed from formalist models into his work. His wide-ranging scholarship has enabled him to integrate a sense of history and institutions into his analysis, and while he has consistently avoided any mathematical presentation of his ideas, the ideas he addresses are those addressed more by formalists than nonformalists.
