Managing Growth in Miniature explores the history of the way economists think about growth. It focuses on the period between the 1930s and 1960s, tracing the development of the famed 'Solow growth model,' one of the central mathematical models in postwar economics. It argues that models are not simply 'efficient tools' providing answers to the problems of economic theory and governance. The Solow model's various uses and interpretations related not only to the ways it made things (in)visible, excluded questions, and suggested actions. Its 'success' and effects ultimately also pertained to its fundamental ambiguities. Attending to the concrete sides of economic abstractions, this book provides a richly layered and accessible account of the forms of knowledge that shaped the predominant notion of 'economic growth' and ideas of how to govern it.

Winner, 2025 Best Monograph Award, The European Society for the History of Economic Thought

‘Our world is shaped not only by economics, but also by economic models. What are the politics of models - and how did they shape the postwar hegemony of economic growth? To answer these questions, Managing Growth in Miniature presents an engaging, intriguing, and rigorously researched history of Solow’s neoclassical growth model, showing the societal power behind the abstractions and practices of economic modeling.’

Matthias Schmelzer - author of The Hegemony of Growth and co-author of The Future is Degrowth

‘Verena Halsmayer has crafted a splendid account of the development and afterlife of Nobelist Robert Solow’s 1956 model of economic growth. The author’s novel representation of economic models as artifacts illuminates the changes in discursive practices that reshaped economic theory, applied economics, and political economy in the postwar period. I hope that this book will encourage economists, as well as historians and philosophers of economics, to reflect on their enthusiastic appreciation of modeling that flowed from Solow’s work.’

E. Roy Weintraub - Duke University

‘Economic models are powerful but also multifaceted, versatile, and ambiguous. But how to document these characteristics and their consequences? With unparalleled conceptual clarity and historical depth, Halsmayer illuminates the ambiguities with which Robert Solow designed, discussed, and manipulated his seminal growth model. By tracing the model's subsequent dissemination, she explains how the success of economic models stems not only from their abstraction and precision but also from their concreteness and openness. A must-read.’

Beatrice Cherrier - CNRS, École Polytechnique

‘One of the best books I've read this year. For anyone in need of a deep dive into the essence of economists' modeling work.’

Source: Twitter

‘There are already several good historical works on how economics became a model-based science and how economics became a mathematical science. However, this book is, to my knowledge, the first to combine both histories to deal with the paradoxical history of how reasoning with mathematical objects to discuss the qualitative features of small, abstract, unrealistic worlds became the disciplinary norm at a period when economists were gaining significant influence in policy circles. By resolving this paradox, Halsmayer’s history of the Solow model provides an excellent insight into the remarkable nature of the discipline of economics.’

Marcel Boumans Source: History of Political Economy

‘The new book by Verena Halsmayer is both an addition to the mostly appreciate literature of this distinct MIT-style, as well as a more critical treatment. The book takes the Solow-growth model as exemplary of the pragmatic MIT-style and relies on theories and concepts from science studies to develop a broader and at the same time more distant and critical perspective on it.’

Erwin Dekker Source: Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

‘While her work is replete with caveats, Halsmayer maintains a balanced, sympathetic perspective, noting the theoretical elegance and empirical and policy significance of Solow’s contributions. The exposition is dense but informative and insightful. Recommended.’

D. Mitch Source: CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

‘An essential resource for scholars seeking to understand, from a historical perspective, the meaning of economic models and how economists have thought about and interpreted them, particularly in the context of growth theory. The book was awarded the 2025 Best Monograph Award by the European Society for the History of Economic Thought, a well-deserved recognition considering its outstanding quality.’

Matheus Assaf Source: The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

‘… the book definitely fulfils its promise: strengthening our understanding of how economists craft, use, and talk about models - and, more broadly, what it does mean to 'think like an economist'.’

Francesco Sergi Source: Œconomia

‘Halsmayer’s book is both a contribution to the history of economics and to historical method, or rather, I would say, to historical epistemology. To read her excellent book means to engage both with the history of economic knowledge, through the case of Solow’s growth model, and with a methodological reflection on how to write the historical epistemology of economics.’

Amanar Akhabbar Source: History of Economic Thought and Policy

‘Verena Halsmayer’s book is a convincing and very well-documented historical case study of the Solow model of growth. It gives a striking and comprehensive overview of the ‘epistemological shift’ that occurred with the rise of the Solow model. … it was a pleasure to discover the wealth of insights offered by Halsmayer’s masterpiece.’

Goulven Rubin Source: Journal of the History of Economic Thought

‘Because it is grounded in an epistemology of scientific models, ‘Managing Growth in Miniature’ is among the most useful of the countless books on economic growth. Halsmayer’s archival materials document economists’ efforts to make sense of their own modeling practice as it came into being. The technical details will satisfy practitioners without intimidating nonspecialists. The prose is clear and engaging.’

Max Ehrenfreund Source: Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society