The History and Methodology of Expected Utility

'Short as it is, the book is a little gem. My favourite parts are the chapters on Daniel Bernoulli's invention (Ch.2) and on the accurate discussion of von Neumann and Morgenstern's approach (Ch.5). In the former, the reader will find a lively reconstruction of how EU came into existence and, above all, a clear presentation of the fundamental methodological issues that, as just said, were already present and have accompanied the theory's journey for almost 300 years. In the latter, Moscati repeats what was perhaps the single most important achievement of his previous, larger work - namely, a crystal-clear explanation of what von Neumann and Morgenstern really achieved and how their analysis eventually converted Milton Friedman and Paul Samuelson to a theory that prima facie seemed to bring economics back to cardinal utility.' Nicola Giocoli, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

• 1. Introduction; 2. Bernoulli's EU; 3. Fortunes and misfortunes of Bernoulli's EU; 4. Von Neumann and Morgenstern's EU: presentation; 5. Von Neumann and Morgenstern's EU: discussion; 6. Savage's EU; 7. Beyond EU: prospect theory; 8. A very short conclusion; References.