Category Archives: Economic Theory

Technological Progress in a Below Full Employment Economy

Posted on December 4, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

I recently came across a rather interesting argument that the famous Post-Keynesian economist Abba Lerner made in relation to his well-known doctrine of Functional Finance. Basically Lerner said that labour-saving technological innovation in a below full employment economy was not … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Economics of Science and Technology | Leave a comment

More Hypocrisy From Krugman: The Grumpy Old Men of Macro

Posted on December 2, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Well, it looks like I wasn’t the only one taking Krugman to task the other day for defending mainstream economics because he’s actually responded to some of the flak he has received. It’s a bland response (as usual) and more … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 4 Comments

Something is Rotten in the State of Macro: Krugman’s Continued Hypocritical Defence of the Status Quo

Posted on November 28, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Paul Krugman is out again defending mainstream economics against students and others who rightly suspect that it has taken a wayward path. I won’t go too much here into Krugman’s own history as a gatekeeper for orthodox economics, having dug … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Media/Journalism | 1 Comment

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and the Exchange Rate

Posted on November 18, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

There is a theory that floats around out there called the ‘Purchasing Power Parity theory of the Exchange Rate’ — or something to that effect, the name seems to change depending on what source you go to. The theory, stripped … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic History, Economic Theory, Market Analysis | 6 Comments

Further Problems With the Static Framework of the ISLM

Posted on November 13, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Yesterday I did a short post on how the ISLM model misrepresents how interest rates function because it views them as static. Today I would like to make a further, if more difficult point: namely, that the very way in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory | 9 Comments

Problems with Static Interest Rates in the ISLM

Posted on November 12, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

The ISLM takes quite a beating from Post-Keynesians — and, I would argue, rightly so. There are any number of reasons for this but let me just here highlight one that is not very regularly talked about. As is well-known … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Policy, Economic Theory | 4 Comments

Steve Keen’s AS-AD Curves and a Suggestion For a New Stock-Flow Equilibrium Approach

Posted on November 11, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

A commenter on Lord Keynes’ blog recently called my attention to something rather interesting; namely, that Steve Keen seems to be using some sort of supply and demand framework to determine price in the macroeconomy in his models. Let me … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 11 Comments

Updating the Technostructure: A Sketch of Galbraith’s Institutionalism with a Financial Sector

Posted on October 25, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

I’m currently rereading The New Industrial State by John Kenneth Galbriath. It is a very rewarding book and, despite what some have said, I do not see it as being at all outdated. I think it translates perfectly well to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 3 Comments

Bad Criticisms of Economics: A Response to Chris Auld

Posted on October 24, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

A quick bit of fun regarding criticisms of economics. It is a post by a blogger listing 18 “bad criticisms of economics”. I think this might be worth engaging with because (a) some of the criticisms are highly subjective and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Media/Journalism | 10 Comments

The CAPM and the Non-Ergodic Axiom

Posted on October 18, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

While doing my dissertation on constructing a new theory of asset-pricing I became exposed to some contemporary theories. To be frank, I didn’t really know how to integrate them because they seemed to be ether (a) intuitively incorrect or (b) … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Market Analysis | 1 Comment