Reinterpreting the Keynesian Revolution

Reinterpreting the Keynesian Revolution
Author: Robert Cord
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0415595231

Taking its cue from a well-established tradition of work from history of science studies this book provides a coherent account of why the revolution in macroeconomics was 'Keynesian.'

Reinterpreting The Keynesian Revolution

Reinterpreting The Keynesian Revolution
Author: Robert Cord
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2013-05-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1135132178

Various explanations have been put forward as to why the Keynesian Revolution in economics in the 1930s and 1940s took place. Some of these point to the temporal relevance of John Maynard Keynes's The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936), appearing, as it did, just a handful of years after the onset of the Great Depression, whilst others highlight the importance of more anecdotal evidence, such as Keynes’s close relations with the Cambridge ‘Circus’, a group of able, young Cambridge economists who dissected and assisted Keynes in developing crucial ideas in the years leading up to the General Theory. However, no systematic effort has been made to bring together these and other factors to examine them from a sociology of science perspective. This book fills this gap by taking its cue from a well-established tradition of work from history of science studies devoted to identifying the intellectual, technical, institutional, psychological and financial factors which help to explain why certain research schools are successful and why others fail. This approach, it turns out, provides a coherent account of why the revolution in macroeconomics was ‘Keynesian’ and why, on a related note, Keynes was able to see off contemporary competitor theorists, notably Friedrich von Hayek and Michal Kalecki.

Reinterpreting Mr. Keynes

Reinterpreting Mr. Keynes
Author: Warren Young
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2022-01-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030913422

This book examines the origins of the IS-LM model, one of the most significant innovations in the history of economic thought. It shows that the complete IS-LM model, including the equations and diagram, was produced by a group of economists who contributed their respective mathematical models of Keynes’s General Theory, including Champernowne, Reddaway, Harrod, and Meade, not to mention Hicks. Furthermore, the book discusses the implications of newly discovered archival material, including a previously overlooked document showing that John Maynard Keynes himself was the first to present the IS-LM model equations in a lecture he gave on December 4, 1933. It focuses on the implications of this material in terms of understanding the evolution of Keynes’s approach from 1933 to 1937, later interpreters of his General Theory, and the ongoing debate between Keynesians and Post-Keynesians on the nature of his system. Given the revelations it presents, this book will transform the profession’s understanding of the origins of the IS-LM model and modern macroeconomics.

The First Serious Optimist

The First Serious Optimist
Author: Ian Kumekawa
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2017-06-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1400885205

A groundbreaking intellectual biography of one of the twentieth century's most influential economists The First Serious Optimist is an intellectual biography of the British economist A. C. Pigou (1877–1959), a founder of welfare economics and one of the twentieth century's most important and original thinkers. Though long overshadowed by his intellectual rival John Maynard Keynes, Pigou was instrumental in focusing economics on the public welfare. And his reputation is experiencing a renaissance today, in part because his idea of "externalities" or spillover costs is the basis of carbon taxes. Drawing from a wealth of archival sources, Ian Kumekawa tells how Pigou reshaped the way the public thinks about the economic role of government and the way economists think about the public good. Setting Pigou's ideas in their personal, political, social, and ethical context, the book follows him as he evolved from a liberal Edwardian bon vivant to a reserved but reform-minded economics professor. With World War I, Pigou entered government service, but soon became disenchanted with the state he encountered. As his ideas were challenged in the interwar period, he found himself increasingly alienated from his profession. But with the rise of the Labour Party following World War II, the elderly Pigou re-embraced a mind-set that inspired a colleague to describe him as "the first serious optimist." The story not just of Pigou but also of twentieth-century economics, The First Serious Optimist explores the biographical and historical origins of some of the most important economic ideas of the past hundred years. It is a timely reminder of the ethical roots of economics and the discipline's long history as an active intermediary between the state and the market.

Post Keynesian Economics

Post Keynesian Economics
Author: T. Palley
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 253
Release: 1996-06-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0230374123

This book provides an important and original statement of Post Keynesian macroeconomic theory, focusing on the significance of privately created inside debts and income distribution for the determination of economic activity. The material is presented in a clear and accessible format

Cambridge Economics in the Post-Keynesian Era

Cambridge Economics in the Post-Keynesian Era
Author: Ashwani Saith
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1218
Release: 2022-11-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 303093019X

This book chronicles the rise and especially the demise of diverse revolutionary heterodox traditions in Cambridge theoretical and applied economics, investigating both the impact of internal pressures within the faculty as also the power of external ideological and political forces unleashed by the global dominance of neoliberalism. Using fresh archival materials, personal interviews and recollections, this meticulously researched narrative constructs the untold story of the eclipse of these heterodox and post-Keynesian intellectual traditions rooted and nurtured in Cambridge since the 1920s, and the rise to power of orthodox, mainstream economics. Also expunged in this neoclassical counter-revolution were the structural and radical policy-oriented macro-economic modelling teams of the iconic Department of Applied Economics, along with the atrophy of sociology, development and economic history from teaching and research in the self-purifying faculty. This book will be of particular interest to researchers in the history of economic thought, sociology of knowledge, political economy, especially those engaged in heterodox and post-Keynesian economics, and to everyone wishing to make economics fit for purpose again for negotiating the multiple economic, social and environmental crises rampant at national and global levels.

Economics, Social Science and Pluralism

Economics, Social Science and Pluralism
Author: Victor A. Beker
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2022-06-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000598837

In the work of most classical economists – including Smith and Keynes – theory was often embedded in application. But from the second half of the last century on, mainstream economics styled itself as “pure” economics, where the theory is presented in a very abstract form detached from any application. This book maintains that economics is a social science whose mission is to explain and, when possible, predict, phenomena of the real-world economy. The book argues that the first step to restore economics as a social science is to define what issues economics should address. Only after this research agenda is established should the appropriate methodology be chosen, not the other way around. In this respect, examples from other social sciences as well as from natural sciences are considered more appropriate models for economics rather than physics. Moreover, the need for a closer interaction with psychology, sociology and other social sciences is required to restore the discipline to that field instead of acting as a branch of applied mathematics. The book also argues for a more pluralist approach to economic education to enable prospective economists to understand real-world economic phenomena and potential policy solution. For this reason, a good economics education should necessarily include the study of economic history and of the institutional environment. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to see economics return to its origins as a social science.

Keynes and his Contemporaries

Keynes and his Contemporaries
Author: Atsushi Komine
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2014-05-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317685229

This book examines how the Cambridge School economists, such as J. M. Keynes, constructed revolutionary theories and advocated drastic policies based on their ideals for social organizations and their personal characteristics. Although vast numbers of studies on Marshall, Keynes and Marshallians have been published, there have been very few studies on the ‘Keynesian Revolution’ or Keynes’s relevance to the modern world from archival and intellectual viewpoints which focus on Keynes as a member of the Cambridge School. This book approaches Keynes from three directions: person, time and perspective. The book provides a better understanding of how Keynes struggled with problems of his time and it also offers valuable lessons on how to survive fluctuating global capitalism today. It focuses on eight key economists as a group in ‘a public sphere’ rather than as a school (a unified theoretical denominator), and clarifies their visions and the widespread beliefs at the time by investigating their common motivations, lifestyles, values and habits.

Keynes on Uncertainty and Tragic Happiness

Keynes on Uncertainty and Tragic Happiness
Author: Anna M. Carabelli
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2021-07-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030756653

Most economists who read the General Theory candidly admitted that they could not understand the theoretical apparatus and found it easy to recast it in traditional terms. This book provides a masterful guide to the generally unrecognized methodological revolution that supported the new theoretical concepts -- a veritable lodestone that complements and expands understanding on the treatment of the economic magnitudes appropriate to the ideal of generality in the social sciences, to the applicability of probability, to the formulation of decision-making under uncertainty, and the foundations of economic policy in interdependent economic systems. _Jan Kregel, Levy Economics Institute Anna Carabelli sets out Keynes’s understanding of economics as a way of thinking, encompassing method and morals, rather than as a doctrine. She does so with her customary admirable scholarship and also her willingness to take controversial positions. I commend the volume most highly to Keynes scholars as a drawing-together and development of the themes that Carabelli has pursued since the publication of her 1988 classic, On Keynes’s Method. Further Keynes’s approach was designed to be applied to different contexts, so I enthusiastically recommend the volume also as a foundation and guide for anyone open to such a ‘new way of reasoning in economics’ for the modern era. _Sheila Dow, University of Stirling This book examines the philosophy and methodology of Keynes, highlighting its novelty and how it presented a new form of economic reasoning. Exploring Keynes’s use of non-demonstrative logic, based on probability, commonalities are found in his economics, ethics, aesthetics, and international relations. Insights are provided into his reasoning and his approach to uncertainty, rationality, measurability of complex magnitudes, moral and rational dilemmas, and irreducible conflicts. This book investigates methodological continuity within Keynes’s work, in particular in relation to uncertainty, complexity, incommensurability, happiness and openness. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in Keynes, probability, ambiguity, ethics and the history of economic thought.

Keynes and Friedman on Laissez-Faire and Planning

Keynes and Friedman on Laissez-Faire and Planning
Author: Sylvie Rivot
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2013-08-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1135022119

The 2008 crisis has revived debates on the relevance of laissez-faire, and thus on the role of the State in a modern economy. This volume offers a new exploration of the writings of Keynes and Friedman on this topic, highlighting not only the clear points of opposition between them, but also the places in which their concerns where shared. This volume argues that the parallel currently made with the 1929 financial crisis and the way the latter turned into the Great Depression sheds new light on the proper economic policy to be conducted in both the short- and the long-run in a monetary economy. In light of the recent revival in appreciation for Keynes’ ideas, Rivot investigates what both Keynes and Friedman had to say on key issues, including their respective interpretations of both the 1929 crisis and the Great Depression, their advocacy of the proper employment policy, and the theoretical underpinnings of the latter. The book asks which lessons should be learnt from the Thirties? And what is the relevance of Keynes’ and Friedman’s respective pleas for today?