The Megacorp And Oligopoly

This book provides both an explanation of the inflation which has bedeviled economic policy in the West since the end of World War II and a micro-economic theory to purge Keynesian models of the Walrasian strain derived from Marshall's Principles. By focusing on what is taken to be the representative business firm of the twentieth century - the large corporation or megacorp - the microeconomic model presented in the book reverses the usual assumptions of economic analysis. Instead of assuming the existence of firms with no control over prices, the book examines how the megacorp uses its pricing power to finance its own internal rate of growth. The result is a determinant model of how prices are set under the sort of oligopolistic conditions which prevail in most modern industries throughout the world.

This title was first published in 1976. This book provides both an explanation of the inflation which has bedeviled economic policy in the West since the end of World War II and a micro-economic theory to purge Keynesian models of the Walrasian strain derived from Marshall's Principles. By focusing on what is taken to be the representative business firm of the twentieth century - the large corporation or megacorp - the microeconomic model presented in the book reverses the usual assumptions of economic analysis. Instead of assuming the existence of firms with no control over prices, the book examines how the megacorp uses its pricing power to finance its own internal rate of growth. The result is a determinant model of how prices are set under the sort of oligopolistic conditions which prevail in most modern industries throughout the world.

These essays on Post-Keynesian economics were written expressly for a volume to honour the life and work of Alfred Eichner. The original countributions - that critically examine and extend ideas in Eichner's "The Macrodynamics of Advanced Market Economies" are organized in seven sections that correspond to areas of economics in which Eichner made a significant contribution. Part 1 deals with the megacorp, a theory of firm pricing and investment that was one of Eichner's most important contributions. Issues of productivity and technical change, that lie at the center of Eichner's macrodynamic model, are the focus of part 1 and parts 3 and 4 elaborate on Eichner's work on growth and money and yield insights into the theoretical disagreements among the Post-Keynesians themselves. Part 5 presents a number of examples of non-neo-classical model building. Part 6 opens with a critique of the "new economic history" that leads to other essays on thorny methodological issues confronting Post-Keynesians. Part 7 gives a European perspective on North American Post-Keynesian economics. The essays reveal the relationships between Eichner's work and Institutionalist and Marxian economics. At the same time, the book raises current theoretical conflicts among these groups as well as among Post-Keynesians themselves. This book compliments Alfred S.Eichner's "The Macrodynamics of Advanced Market Economies", also published in 1991, and is appropriate for scholars and upper-level undergraduates and graduate students.

Originally published in 1969. In describing the emergence of oligopoly, Professor Eichner has written a history of the American sugar refining industry, one based in part on records of the United States Department of Justice. Sugar refining was one of the first major industries to be consolidated, and its expertise was in many ways typical of the development of other industries. Eichner's focus is on the changing pattern of industrial organization. This study is based on a unique four-stage model of the process by which the industrial structure of the American economy has evolved. The first part of the book traces the early history of the sugar refining industry and argues that the classical model of a competitive industry is inherently unstable once large fixed investments are required. The more closely sugar refining approximated this model, the more unstable the model became in practice. This instability led, in 1887, to the formation of the sugar trust. The author contends that the trust was formed not to exploit economies of scale but with the intent of achieving control over prices. In the second part of the book, Eichner describes the political and legal reaction that transformed monopoly into oligopoly. This sequence of events is best understood in terms of a learning curve in which the response of businessmen over time was related to the changing institutional environment in which they were forced to operate.

Though understandably preoccupied with the immediate problems of the Great Depression, the generation of economists that came to the forefront in the 1930s also looked ahead to the long-term consequences of the crisis and proposed various solutions to prevent its recurrence. Theodore Rosenof examines the long-run theories and legacies of four of the leading members of this generation: John Maynard Keynes of Great Britain, who influenced the New Deal from afar; Alvin Hansen and Gardiner Means, who fought over the direction of New Deal policy; and Joseph Schumpeter, an opponent of the New Deal. Rosenof explores the conflicts that arose among long-run theorists, arguing that such disputes served eventually to set the stage for the emergence and domination of a short-run Keynesian approach to economic policy that collapsed under the impact of 1970s stagflation. Tracing the subsequent revival of long-run theories, Rosenof demonstrates their relevance to an understanding of the economy's problems over the past quarter-century and to the current debate over public policy. Originally published in 1997. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

This volume examines the macrodynamic behaviour of advanced economies with social institutions similar to those of the United States and other members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. It is a critique of, and provides alternative models to, conventional neoclassical theory. The principles developed are used to explain two major phenomena in economic life: the nation's secular growth rate and the cyclical deviations around that growth. These interdependent movements of trend and cycle constitute the economy's macrodynamic behaviour. Eichner uses a systems framework for integrating four distinct institutional dimensions in society - the normative, the political, the economic, and the anthropogenic. This book, by one of the leading proponents of Post-Keynesian economics, is the culmination of over 13 years of scholarly work. The author's untimely death in February 1988 prevented the final revisions of his manuscript. The book should prove an essential addition to the library of scholars and students of economics both within and outside the Post-Keynesian tradition.

This collection of essays is designed to illustrate the variety, complexity and power of non-neoclassical economic thinking. The essays define the fundamental questions differently, employ different analytical tools and arrive at different conclusions. The two strands of non-neoclassical thinking that occupy most of the book are the neo-Keynesian and the neo-Marxian. The bulk of the book is composed of essays on microeconomics, macroeconomics, trade, comparative systems and welfare, with an unusual section on property rights and social hierarchy.

Alfred Eichner's pioneering contributions to post-Keynesian econmics offered significant insights on the way modern economies and institutions actually work. Published in 1987, his "Macrodynamics of Advanced Market Economies" contains rich chapters on dynamics and growth, investment, finance and income distribution, a timely chapter on the State and fiscal policy, and two analytical chapters on endogenous money that are years ahead of their time. Featuring chapters by many of Eichner's disciples, this book celebrates his rich contributions to post-Keynesian economics, and demonstrates that his work is in many ways as valid today as it was over two decades ago.