Introduction: Conversations with Hyman Minsky

I came to know Hyman Minsky toward the end of his time at Washington University when I joined the faculty as an assistant professor right out of graduate school in fall 1982. My conversations with Minsky since then have greatly influenced my research and professional development. When the authors of the papers collected in this volume were presenting their ideas at the conference honoring Minsky at Washington University, I was struck by how closely the major ideas in these papers related to the themes Minsky emphasized in conversation with his colleagues and students. Therefore, I try to show in this essay how the major themes in each contribution connect to the ideas Minsky emphasized, almost on a daily basis, to those around him. As a result, this chapter does not summarize the papers. The reader will have to go to the papers themselves to discover their individual messages. This introduction attempts to draw together the diverse ideas expressed in the individual chapters, relating them to the view of economic activity that Minsky conveys at a personal level. For an impression of how Minsky perceives the world he has experienced, see the following chapter, “Minsky on Himself, " by Dimitri B. Papadimitriou.