Author Archives: pilkingtonphil

About pilkingtonphil

Philip Pilkington is a macroeconomist and investment professional. Writing about all things macro and investment. Views my own.You can follow him on Twitter at @philippilk.

Why Thomas Piketty is Wrong About Inflation and Interest Rates

Posted on May 16, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

I have pointed out on here recently that Thomas Piketty’s views on public sector debt are wholly un-Keynesian. Well, we should also point out that his view of inflation and interest rates are also fairly un-Keynesian. Piketty basically thinks that … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic History, Economic Policy, Economic Theory | 35 Comments

I’m Pointing at the Moon, You’re Looking at My Finger: Janet Yellen on Post-Keynesian Economics

Posted on May 15, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

Here’s an interesting fact that I’ll bet many of you didn’t know: the current head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, wrote a short paper in 1980 examining the theories of the Post-Keynesians. You can find it here. The paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory, Philosophy, Psychology | 26 Comments

Cody Wilson and the Language of Power

Posted on May 14, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

I don’t usually do moral philosophy on here; except, that is, when I’m pointing out the implicit moral philosophy inherent in certain economic concepts. However, I recently came across something that I found so interesting that I felt I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 11 Comments

A Quick Note On Hoarding and Scarcity: Applied Cambridge Economics

Posted on May 13, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

Yesterday and today in the comments section to my blog there was a somewhat interesting discussion about hoarding and unemployment. One commenter claimed that hoarding only caused unemployment in a monetary economy. I have heard this a lot, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic History, Economic Theory | 30 Comments

Is the Speculative or the Precautionary Demand for Money More Important in Real World Capital Markets?

Posted on May 13, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

In Keynes’ General Theory is is famously stated that the demand for money relies on three distinct functions. These are: the transactions demand for money; the precautionary demand for money; and the speculative demand for money. Or, more formally: M … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Toward a General Theory of Pricing | 12 Comments

How Do Changes in Interest Rates Affect the Level of Economic Activity?

Posted on May 12, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

Roy Harrod has some rather interesting opinions on the effectiveness of interest rates. As readers of this blog know I am rather skeptical of using interest rates to steer the economy. Basically this is because I think that using them … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory | 46 Comments

Is There Really No Labour Market in Keynesian Theory?

Posted on May 10, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

It was recently said by James Galbraith that a model that includes a labour market is “anti-Keynesian”. This caused a little bit of fuss but I thought that it was a very good first approximation of what Keynes’ economics in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 36 Comments

A Brief History of the Bank of England’s Endogenous Money Policies: An Ode to Roy Harrod

Posted on May 9, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

Roy Harrod, usually remembered today for his part in the development of the Harrod-Domar growth model was also, so far as I can see, the most sophisticated monetary economist among the early Post-Keynesians. His book Money, designed as a sort … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic History, Economic Theory | 16 Comments

Exploring Inequality: Real Wages and Productivity Growth

Posted on May 7, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

I recently had an argument with a few New Keynesian types in the comments section of Lars Syll’s blog. I won’t get into the nuances here as they are not very interesting. Basically the New Keynesians were trying to defend … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic History, Economic Policy, Economic Theory | 120 Comments

Why Sraffa’s Theory Does Not Contain a Labour Theory of Value

Posted on May 6, 2014 by pilkingtonphil

In my last post I tried to argue that, for a number of reason, once we make additions to Sraffa’s theory to make it comprehensive enough to confront the real world any potential interpretation of the theory in line with … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | Leave a comment