This book examines the much-debated question of whether John Maynard Keynes' greatest work—The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money—was an instance of Mertonian simultaneous scientific discovery. In part I of this study, Don Patinkin argues for Keynes' originality, rejecting the claims of the Stockholm school and the Polish economist Michal Kalecki. Patinkin shows that the theoretical problems to which the Stockholm school and Kalecki devoted their attention largely differed from those of the General Theory and that, even when the problem addressed was similar, the treatment they accorded it was not part of their central messages. In the remaining parts of the book Patinkin presents a critique of Keynes' theory of effective demand and discusses Keynes' monetary theory and policy thinking, as well as the relationship between the respective developments of Keynesian theory and national income accounting in the 1930s.
Essays in the Theory of Employment JOAN ROBINSON OXFORD BASIL BLAGKWELL 1947 First printed 1937 Macmillan Co. Ltd. Second Edition October 1947 Reprinted November 1947 Printed in Great Britain for BASIL BLACKWELL MOTT, LIMITED by A. R, MOWBRAY Co. LIMITED, London and . Oxford FOREWORI THERE have been considerable developments since these essays were written, both in theory and in experience. From the point of view of theory, they belong to the period of the first impact upon economic thought of Keynes 3 General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. From the point of view of experience, they belong to a period when the existence of unemployment over shadowed all economic problems. I think that they are most easily to be understood in the light of their historical setting, and that any attempt to bring them up to date by shifts of emphasis would be confusing. At the same time I believe that they are not without relevance to the dominant problems of the present day. I have therefore not made any substantial changes in the text of the first edition. I have, however, made a few alterations which might equally well have been made in the first instance. . I have removed an error from the argument on Mobility of Labour p. 33, I have simplified the exposition of the effect of inventions on em ployment p. 96, and I have amplified the discussion of the influence of exchange depreciation on the balance of trade p. 143. JOAN ROBINSON CAMBRIDGE February, 1947 FOREWORD TO FIRST EDITION THESE essays represent an attempt to apply the principles of Mr. Keynes General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money to a number of particular problems. References to the General Theory are provided for the convenience of the reader, not by way of acknowledgment to Mr. Keynes, for the very existence of this book, for what it is worth, must be regarded as an acknowledg ment to the work of Mr. Keynes. The following are reprinted each with some alteration by vi FOREWORD permission of the editors concerned Disguised Unemployment from the Economic Journal, The Long-Period Theory of Employ ment except Section 5 from the eitschnft fur Nationalokonomie and the first part of Some Reflections on Marxist Economics from-the Economic Journal. An Economists Sermon wai originally delivered to a study circle of the Student Christiar Movement at Peterhouse, Cambridge. JOAN ROBINSON CAMBRIDGE October, 1936 CONTENTS PART I PAOK FULL EMPLOYMENT - - -, v - - - i MOBILITY OF LABOUR - - - - - 29 CERTAIN PROPOSED REMEDIES FOR UNEMPLOYMENT 44 DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT - - - 60 PART II THE LONG-PERIOD THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT - 75 THE CONCEPT OF ZERO SAVING - - - 101 DISINVESTMENT - - - - - - 112 DIAGRAMMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS - - - - 119 PART III THE FOREIGN EXCHANGES - - - - 134 BEGGAR-MY-NEIGHBOUR REMEDIES FOR UNEMPLOY MENT -------156 PART IV INDETERMINACY - - - - - - 171 AN ECONOMISTS SERMON - - - 175 SOME REFLECTIONS ON MARXIST ECONOMICS - 183 PART I FULL EMPLOYMENT BEFORE discussing the definition and the characteristics of full employment it is necessary to say something about the factors which influence changes in money wages. A problem which has caused much perplexity is presented by the relationship, as it exists in the minds of employees, between changes in real wages and changes in money wages. As to what actually occurs there is no dispute. A cut in money wages will always be resisted by Trade Unions with whatever force they may command while a rise in prices, such as occurs when there is an increase in effective demand, does not normally lead to the demand for a rise in money wages sufficient to prevent real wages from falling. Even when Trade Unions are strong enough to prevent money wages from falling, they frequently submit to a fall in real wages, brought about by a rise in prices and accompanied by an increase in employment...
John Maynard Keynes is the great British economist of the twentieth century whose hugely influential work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and * is undoubtedly the century's most important book on economics--strongly influencing economic theory and practice, particularly with regard to the role of government in stimulating and regulating a nation's economic life. Keynes's work has undergone significant revaluation in recent years, and "Keynesian" views which have been widely defended for so long are now perceived as at odds with Keynes's own thinking. Recent scholarship and research has demonstrated considerable rivalry and controversy concerning the proper interpretation of Keynes's works, such that recourse to the original text is all the more important. Although considered by a few critics that the sentence structures of the book are quite incomprehensible and almost unbearable to read, the book is an essential reading for all those who desire a basic education in economics. The key to understanding Keynes is the notion that at particular times in the business cycle, an economy can become over-productive (or under-consumptive) and thus, a vicious spiral is begun that results in massive layoffs and cuts in production as businesses attempt to equilibrate aggregate supply and demand. Thus, full employment is only one of many or multiple macro equilibria. If an economy reaches an underemployment equilibrium, something is necessary to boost or stimulate demand to produce full employment. This something could be business investment but because of the logic and individualist nature of investment decisions, it is unlikely to rapidly restore full employment. Keynes logically seizes upon the public budget and government expenditures as the quickest way to restore full employment. Borrowing the * to finance the deficit from private households and businesses is a quick, direct way to restore full employment while at the same time, redirecting or siphoning
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