Topics in Classical Micro- And Macroeconomics: Elements of a Critique of Neoricardian Theory

ISBN-13: 9783642003233 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 507 str.

Peter Flaschel

Opis

This book on Classical micro- and macrodynamics includes revised versions of papers which were written between 1983 and 2000, some jointly with co-authors, and it supplements them with recent work on the issues which are raised and treated in them. It attempts to demonstrate to the reader that themes of Classical economics, in particular in the tradition of Smith, Ricardo and Marx, can be synthesized into a coherent whole, from the perspective of formal model building. This is accomplished by means of mathematical techniques which, on the one hand, provide a consistent accounting framework (labor values and prices of p- duction) as point of reference for Classical micro- and macro-dynamics and which, on the other hand, attempt to apply these accounting schemes - or suitable ext- sions of them - by showing their usefulness as tools of analysis of the implications of technological change (labor values) and as potential tools for understanding the dynamics of market prices and of income distribution around their centers of gravity (production prices and the wage-pro't curve).

Spis treści

Labor Values: Theory and Measurement.- The So-Called “Transformation Problem” Revisited.- Baseline Approaches to the Labor Theory of Value.- Using Labor Values: Labor Productivity and Technical Change.- Marx After Stone: The Marxian Contribution to the UN’s SNA.- Actual Labor Values in a General Model of Production.- Employment Multipliers and the Measurement of Labor Productivity.- Technology Assumptions and the Energy Requirements of Commodities.- Production Prices and the Standard Commodity. A Critical Reassessment.- In Search of Foundations for a Classical Theory of Competition.- Two Concepts of Basic Commodities for Joint Production Systems.- Some Continuity Properties of a Reformulated Sraffa Model.- The Standard Commodity and the Theory of Income Distribution.- Sraffa’s Standard Commodity: No Fulfillment of Ricardo’s Dream of an ‘Invariable Measure of Value’.- Gravitation or Convergence in Classical Micro-Dynamics.- Dressing the Emperor in a New Dynamic Outfit.- Stability: Independent of Economic Structure? A Prototype Analysis.- Classical and Neoclassical Competitive Adjustment Processes.- Composite Classical and Keynesian Adjustment Processes.- Gravitation or Convergence in Classical Macro-Dynamics.- Some Stability Properties of Goodwin's Growth Cycle Model.- Endogenous Aspirations in a Model of Cyclical Growth.- Partial Cooperation with Capital vs. Solidarity in a Model of Classical Growth.- The Classical Growth Cycle: Reformulation, Simulation and Some Facts.- The Goodwin Distributive Cycle After Fifteen Years of New Observations.- Classical Dynamics in a General Keynes–Wicksell Model.

Blurb

This book on Classical micro- and macroeconomics collects revised versions of papers which were written between 1983 and 2000, some jointly with coauthors, and it supplements them in a coherent way with recent unpublished work on the issues raised and treated in them. It attempts to demonstrate to the reader that themes of Classical economics, in particular in the tradition of Smith, Ricardo and Marx, can be synthesized into a coherent whole from the perspective of formal model building as well as applied Leontief-Stone Systems of National Accounts and the Input-Output approaches built on them. This reformulation of Classical economics differs significantly from the static Neoricardian formalization of the Classical approach to economics.

In these days when the properly working of the market has become controversial, it is worth going back to classical economics and to study of how the classical dynamic mechanisms, for example the invisible hand in the sense of Adam Smith, were supposed to work to bring about stability, equilibrium and welfare. Having written many books and research papers on the dynamics of market economies, Peter Flaschel very competently takes on this issue in this current monograph. This book will definitely play an important role of reviving classical micro- and macroeconomic dynamics.
Willi Semmler, New School University, New York

This book is a must-read. It provides a comprehensive, original analysis of classical theories of prices, values, and distribution, which combines the utmost theoretical and mathematical rigour with a significant empirical orientation. Indeed, it outlines the foundations of an alternative analysis of capitalist economies and it is likely to become a classic for all scholars dissatisfied with standard approaches. Yet any open-minded economist would find that the arguments provided have the rare quality of challenging a number of long-held beliefs.
Roberto Veneziani, Queen Mary University of London