Steindl On Imperfect Competition

In light of weak economic performances and rising income disparities across the developed world during the past decades, this book provides a comprehensive overview of secular stagnation theories in the history of economic thought and examines the role of income distribution in various stagnation hypotheses. By offering a historical perspective, from the classical economists to the most recent stagnation debate of the early twenty-first century, the author shows that most stagnation theories were developed in periods of high and/or rising income disparities. Eventually, it was Josef Steindl, one of the least recognized stagnationists in the history of economic thought, who put the distribution of income at the heart of his stagnation theory. While Josef Steindl focused on the nexus between the functional distribution of income and economic growth, this book includes the personal distribution of income in a Kaleckian-Steindlian model of economic growth and stagnation. In the model presented, the nexus between economic growth and the distribution of income is a priori uncertain, depending on the type of economic shock and the specific economic circumstances. The author also discusses various empirically oriented policy implications aimed at fostering both economic growth and a more equal distribution of income. This book appeals to scholars in economics and the history of economic thought interested in economic growth, secular stagnation, and income distribution.

This study and its companion, "Joan Robinson and Economic Theory" looks at Joan Robinson, her impact upon modern economics, her challenges and critiques, and the advances made in the science and art of economics. It studies her ideas, themes and concerns from many different perspectives.

This new approach to traditional price theory and to the analysis of imperfect competition represents a breakthrough in the development of a "new" microeconomic theory. Addresses issues in price theory, industrial organization, international trade and regional urban economics.

Within Post-Keynesian economics there is a spectrum of approaches to theories of the firm but what they have in common, to their great benefit, is a proper integration of the concept of radical uncertainty: data that cannot be known. This book revisits Kalecki’s theory of the firm is located to show that it constitutes fertile theoretical ground on which to systematically understand the resultant indeterminacy when firms operate under conditions of radical uncertainty. The author proposes a way of generalising radical uncertainty by integrating some of the separate approaches within Post-Keynesian economics centred around Kalecki’s work. Through this, it is shown that radical uncertainty does more than just change the ultimate motivation of firms (dropping short run profit maximisation; more complex motivation; interconnectivity with the environment), it is central to the emergence, existence and motivation of firms, and critically also firm strategy. It is argued that firms do not simply respond to uncertainty: it is the systematic cause of their intentional behaviour. Through developing these arguments, the book also contributes to the methodology of Kalecki and Shackle, as well as Kaleckian price theory. This book will be important reading for anyone interested in theories of the firm, Post-Keynesian economics and heterodox approaches to economics more broadly.

The collected papers in this volume are all concerned either in a direct sense or in a more wider perspective with the work of Joseph A. Schumpeter. Looking at Schumpeter's work, his lasting influence on important areas of research can be identified. One of these areas is obviously Schumpeter's idea about the future capitalism, a second one the issue of innovation and its consequences for economic development. A third area is concerned with the political process and the role of political leadership. The collection of this volume is developed along these main lines, complemented by papers discussing the place of Schumpeter's work within the history of economic analysis.

Until the end of the early 1970s, from a history of economic thought perspective, the mainstream in economics was pluralist, but once neoclassical economics became totally dominant it claimed the mainstream as its own. Since then, alternative views and schools of economics increasingly became minorities in the discipline and were considered ‘heterodox’. This book is in honour of John Edward King who has an impressive publication record in the area of economic theory with specific interest in how economic thought in the past shapes current economic theory and enforces certain paths of economic policy and economic development. This book is divided into five themes based on King’s interests. The first theme looks at the challenge in trying to reclaim pluralism in economics. The second faces head-on the direct collision of mainstream economics with history of economic thought and heterodox economics. The third addresses classical economic ideas, their central influence in the past and how they can still primarily guide modern pluralist economics. The fourth examines Post Keynesian and Kaleckian economics with a view to providing a more coherent and extensive branch of heterodox economics. The final theme critiques the policy of neoliberalism that has entrenched itself in capitalist economies which have led to financial, industrial, labour, and behavioural/consumerist crises. This text aims to provide a clear path for pluralism to serve the economics discipline as its standard bearer, and to no longer be merely a heterodox challenge to the mainstream. This book is of interest to those who study history of economic thought, political economy and heterodox economics.