Category Archives: Economic Theory

Quantity Rationing as Business Strategy: Furthering the Case for a General Theory of Pricing

Posted on August 17, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

My last post on my attempts to create a general theory of prices met with some positive responses. I’m not hugely surprised. Any thinking person who has ever entered an undergraduate micro course has questioned the validity of what’s being … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 14 Comments

The Post-Keynesian View of Monetary Policy

Posted on August 16, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Among Post-Keynesians there is a general consensus about interest rate policies: they are not, unless used in extreme form to generate recessions, very effective at regulating the volume of output or even inflation. Of all the Post-Keynesian arguments that I … Continue reading →

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Teleology and Market Equilibrium: Manifesto for a General Theory of Prices

Posted on August 16, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Neoclassicals are a slippery bunch indeed. The moment you think that you’ve pointed out a flaw in their theoretical armor they turn around and say that the theory can accommodate the criticism. Soon after, you see them once again making … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Toward a General Theory of Pricing | 8 Comments

Marx, Hegel, the Labour Theory of Value and Human Desire

Posted on August 13, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Hour-long, by hour, may we two stand When we’re dead, between these lands The sun set behind his eyes And Joe said, “Is this desire?” — PJ Harvey, ‘Is This Desire?‘ I’ll be honest: I hate discussing Marx, dialectical materialism … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Philosophy, Psychology | 20 Comments

Gunnar Myrdal’s Monetary Equilibrium Theory: A Summarized Version

Posted on August 12, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Jan has brought my attention to the following paper which lays out a good outline of Gunnar Myrdal’s Monetary Equilibrium. Since many are unfamiliar with Myrdal’s theories in the English speaking world I will lay out what I think to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 1 Comment

Gunnar Myrdal’s Prescient Criticisms of Keynes’ General Theory

Posted on August 10, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

In my post on the Austrian Business Cycle Theory Jan, a regular commenter on Lord Keynes’ blog, once again brought up the Stockholm School of economics. He has been doing this on Lord Keynes’ blog for as long as I … Continue reading →

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Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Dinosaur Economics

Posted on August 9, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Just a very quick note so as to weigh in on a debate which, frankly, I don’t really want to weigh in on. It relates to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (hereafter: ABCT) and its relationship to the natural rate … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory | 41 Comments

Borrowing from Science: Philip Mirowski on Contemporary Neoliberalism

Posted on August 9, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

The historian of thought Philip Mirowski has published a very interesting piece entitled The Thirteen Commandments of Neoliberalism. The first and most important point to comment on is the following: It is noteworthy that [Mont Pelerin Society] members began to … Continue reading →

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Joan Robinson and the Labor Theory of Value

Posted on August 7, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Here’s an interesting thought from Geoff Harcourt on Joan Robinson’s relationship with the Marxist economist (and possible Soviet infiltrator) Maurice Dobb which also goes into what she thought about the labour theory of value (excuse the Americanised spelling in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Theory, Philosophy | 31 Comments

Routledge’s Karma: Free Stuff Alert!

Posted on August 6, 2013 by pilkingtonphil

Karma. The idea is that you do something wonderful and it will cancel out the awful deeds you do at some other point in time (okay, I’m taking liberty with my definition and giving a rather Catholic-tinged exposition but I’m … Continue reading →

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