Laspeyres is mainly known today for his 1871 development of the
index number formula method for determining price increases, used for calculating the rate of
inflation. A type of this calculation is known today as the
Laspeyres Index. In addition to his accomplishments in price indices, Laspeyres may be counted as one of the fathers of
business administration as an academic-professional discipline in
Germany, and as one of the main unifiers of economics and statistics by “developing ideas which are today by and large nationally and internationally reality:
quantification and
operationalization of
economics; expansion of official statistics; cooperation of official statistics and economic research; and integration of the economist and the statistician in one person.” (Rinne 1983) In economics, Laspeyres was to some extent a representative of the
Historical School and certainly of
Kathedersozialismus. The surname
Laspeyres is of Gascon origin; his ancestors were
Huguenots who settled in Berlin in the 17th century. How he pronounced his surname is uncertain, but likely as "Las-pay-ress". == Bibliography ==