Sraffa, Myrdal, and the 1961 Söderström Gold Medal

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12274
• Date: 01 April 2019
• Published date: 01 April 2019

Scand. J. of Economics 121(2), 843–853, 2019

DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12274

Sraffa, Myrdal, and the 1961 S ¨oderstr¨om

Gold Medal*

Rog´erio Arthmar

Universidade Federal do Esp´ırito Santo, Vit ´oria 29075-910, Brazil

rogerio.arthmar@ufes.br

Michael McLure

University of WesternAustralia, Perth WA 6009, Australia

michael.mclure@uwa.edu.au

Abstract

In this paper, we give an account of the awarding of the 1961 S¨oderstr¨om Gold Medal to

Piero Sraffa by the Royal SwedishAcademy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien).We

highlight the central role that Gunnar Myrdal played in the allocation of this prize to Sraffa and

the amicable relationship between these two economists, as well as their views on Ricardian

economics. In addition, we provide details of Sraffa’s activities in Stockholm, including his

attendance at the award ceremony. In our final remarks, we reflect on the significance of the 1961

S¨oderstr¨om Gold Medal for the history of economics as a field of study.

Keywords: Economics prize; history of science; Ricardian doctrine; value theory

JEL classification:B12; B31; B51

I. Introduction

The first ten volumes of The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo,

published between 1951 and 1955, absorbed more than two decades of

Piero Sraffa’s academic life (Sraffa, 1951–1955; Potier, 1991, pp. 59–

75; Rosselli, 2014).1These volumes were greeted with international

acclamation, securing for Sraffa his standing as one of the leading historians

and editors of classical economics. In 1954, he was elected as a fellow

of the British Academy. A few years later, in 1961, Sraffa was awarded

the S¨oderstr ¨om Gold Medal by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

*The authors thank Jenny Edlund, Hans Larsson, Anne M. de Malleray, and Jonathan Smith

for their invaluable assistance with our research. Christian Gehrke, John King, Heinz D. Kurz,

Gregory Moore, Nerio Naldi, Wilfried Parys, and two anonymous referees offered helpful

comments on earlier drafts of the paper. Lord Eatwell has allowed our use of Sraffa’s papers.

Financial support from CNPq, grant number 307080/2012-9, is acknowledged.

1Another 20 years and several failed attempts by specialists, including Maurice Dobb, wouldbe

required to bring the General Index,Volume XI, to completion in 1973, in a joint effort by Sraffa

and his former secretary Barbara Lowe (Gehrke, 2005).

C

The editors of The Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2017.