Download Free Some Cambridge Controversies In The Theory Of Capital Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Some Cambridge Controversies In The Theory Of Capital and write the review.

Capital theory traditionally spans two major compartments of economic theory: the theory of production of both individual products and the total product, and the theory of the distribution of the aggregate product between the different classes of capitalist society. It has always been controversial, partly because the subject matter is difficult and partly because rival ideologies and value systems impinge directly on the subject matter. In the present book the various topics associated with the exchanges between the 'neo-Keynesians' and the 'neo-neoclassicals' are discussed and evaluated. The topics include the measurement of capital, the revival of interest in Irving Fisher's rate of return on investment, the double-switching debate, Sraffa's prelude to a critique of neoclassical theory, and the 'new' theories of the rate of profits in capitalist society.
The fiftieth anniversary edition of one of the classic texts to have emerged from the Cambridge Capital Controversy.
This is an excerpt from the 4-volume dictionary of economics, a reference book which aims to define the subject of economics today. 1300 subject entries in the complete work cover the broad themes of economic theory. This extract concentrates on the topic of capital theory.
Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an ‘economic’ entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or ‘abstract labour’, respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital. This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society. Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.
In this volume more than 40 leading economists pay tribute to, and critically evaluate, Geoff Harcourt's work. Contributors include Tony Atkinson, Tony Lawson, Edward Nell and Ian Steedman.
The essays in this volume present a comprehensive view of modern economics. They range from technical papers on a specific issue, such as that devoted to a critique of Kaldor's model of income distribution, through evaluation of a wide-ranging literature, with special emphasis on the Cambridge controversies in the theory of capital. * Intellectual portraits of Eric Russell, Joan Robinson and Lorie Tarshis are also included. * The concluding essay 'The Social Science Imperialists' gives an overview of the issues and trends that have dominated economics in recent years.
1. 1 Introduction This book was born out of our reaction to the way in which the usual texts cover the subject of the history of economic thought. In most of these texts, there is a tendency to emphasize the similarities and differences between all the important economists and form a repository of encyclopedic knowledge where one can study the seemingly important economic ideas. In this book, we argue that it is much more fruitful to focus on the essential ideas of each and every school of economic thought and relate them to present-day problems, than to engage into a sterile discussion of the ideas and the lives of the great economists of the past. Thus, although this book deals with the history of economic thought, it does not necessarily follow a historic (in the sense of the order of presentation) approach, but rather a logical one, that is to say it deals with the social conditions associated with the emergence of a school of economic thought, its evolution, and its contemporary in?uence. One cannot write a book on the history of economic thought without writing separate chapters on the major economists of the past, that is, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and J. M. Keynes. Of course these economists formed schools of economic thought, that is, the classical and the Keynesian.
'Fabio Petri has been a persistent critic of marginalist theories of value and distribution. In this provocative book, he presents an extensive scrutiny of the reasons why many economists are unsatisfied with the Neo-Walrasian approach to General Equilibrium theory and why some reject it altogether. General Equilibrium, Capital and Macroeconomics throws down a challenge to all economic theorists.' - Neri Salvadori, University of Pisa, Italy 'General Equilibrium, Capital and Macroeconomics is a thorough and deep book. It contains a remarkably clear and precise statement of the conceptual, methodological and analytical difficulties besetting the demand and supply approach to economics as it is advocated in partial and general equilibrium models, old and new, micro and macro. This work covers essential parts of modern economics, it is well written and the subject matter is carefully arranged. The book will be of interest to a wide range of economists.' - Heinz D. Kurz, University of Graz, Austria This book argues that the shift in general equilibrium theory, from its early long-period to the modern very-short-period versions, has had very important consequences which are insufficiently appreciated by large parts of the economics profession. This shift has produced new difficulties, and has undermined central tenets of neoclassical macroeconomic theory (such as the negative dependence of aggregate investment on the interest rate, or the existence of a downward-sloping demand curve for labour) which had their basis in the long-period versions where capital was treated as a single factor.
The renewed interest in the works of the great classical economists reflects in part a recognition that there is still much to be learned from them about the operation of the economy. This volume is the first in a series of four in which Professor Hollander will provide an analytical and critical assessment of the thought of the British school of classical economists; later volumes will elucidate the thought of Ricardo and Malthus, Mill, and Marx. This study relates Smith's theoretical position to contemporary history and economic practice. It pays particular attention to Smith's vision of the process of industrialization during the mid-eighteenth century, his approach to British colonial policies, and his view of the desirability of economic development. Coming in time for the bicentennial celebrations of The Wealth of Nations, this work should interest all economists with a sense of the evolution and purpose of their discipline, and should commend itself as a detailed and careful reinterpretation of what Adam Smith was thinking about. One authoritative reader has called it: 'one of the most distinguished essays in the history of economic thought of the last quarter century.' (Studies in Classical Political Economy)
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this work the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. He shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, the author says, and may do so again. This original work reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.