Financial economics emerged as a mathematical discipline only from the 1960s

Evidence

This book’s other story is the emergence of modern economic theories of financial markets. Finance was a mainstream subject of study in the business schools of U.S. universities, but until the 1960s it was treated largely descriptively. There was little or nothing in the way of sophisticated mathematical theory of financial markets. However, a distinctive academic specialty of “financial economics,” which had begun to emerge in the 1950s, gathered pace in the 1960s and the 1970s. At its core were elegant mathematical models of markets. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 33

Categorization

• XREF: The history-of-science arc here parallels the emergence stories of other mathematized disciplines like econometrics and mathematical physics. — connects to: Mathematical economics displaced descriptive institutional study of finance in the US — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 304; Finance journals published almost no theoretical or mathematical work until the late 1950s — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 161; Markowitz’s math-heavy paper was alien to 1950s academic finance culture — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 217 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Mathematical economics displaced descriptive institutional study of finance in the US #corroborates (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 304
• Finance journals published almost no theoretical or mathematical work until the late 1950s #corroborates (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 161