Holbrook Working and the Early Financial Economics.

Peer-reviewed article
Author

Thomas Delcey

Published

2025-04-01

This image comes from one of the first publications of Holbrook Working in 1922. It illustrates his early focus on the price spread. The graph shows the estimated average price of potatoes across the United States. The price spread is the difference between these two prices, which reflects the cost of transportation and storage. One of the key insights of Working is to extend this simple no-arbitrage argument between areas to derivatives and existing spread over time. Credit: Working (1922)

Abstract

Where does financial economics come from? This paper studies the origins of foundational ideas of financial economics such as the price spread, the arbitrage, and the interpretation of price as reflecting information. Based on his publications and archival and interview materials, I analyze Holbrook Working’s intellectual journey between the 1920s and 1960s. Working was a leading North American agricultural economist. I show that his pioneering analyzes of futures markets strongly influenced early financial economists, such as Paul Samuelson, Paul Cootner, Hendrick Houthakker, and Lester G. Telser. Working sheds light on a North American view of speculation that contrasted with the British and dominant one.

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@article{delcey2025,
  author = {Delcey, Thomas},
  title = {Holbrook {Working} and the {Early} {Financial} {Economics.}},
  journal = {History of Political Economy},
  volume = {57},
  number = {2},
  pages = {199-231},
  date = {2025-04-01},
  url = {https://thomasdelcey.com/publications/WORKING_HOPE_2024/},
  doi = {10.1215/00182702-11642388},
  langid = {en}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Delcey, Thomas. 2025. “Holbrook Working and the Early Financial Economics.” History of Political Economy 57 (2): 199–231. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-11642388.