40 Years of Economic Decision-Making

40 years ago from the time of writing it was 1948. Of course it would have been too good to be true if that year had appeared very special with respect to our subject, economic decision-making. But the 1940s as a period indeed are very special in this respect. Not only had John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern published their book Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour in 1944, but also the articles by Abraham Wald on statistical inference and uncertainty appeared in 1947, while moreover in that same year the first national Modernization and Equipment Plan for France was completed.1