Yet another look at Léon Walras's theory of tâtonnement

Starting with a detailed discussion of the theorem of equivalent redistributions, Part 1 examines the central role played by the distributional neutrality of tâtonnement in Walras's pure theory of exchange. Part 2 extends this discussion to Walras's attempts at reaching a similar result when dealing with the successive versions of his theory of production before 1900. Part 3 contrasts Walras's and Edgeworth's respective technologies of exchange in order to demonstrate that a distributionally neutral tâtonnement is an intrinsic part of Walras's theory of exchange. Finally, and besides briefly summarizing the results, the conclusion develops the crucial connection between the necessity of a converging and distributionally neutral tâtonnement in pure economics with Walras's theories of property and justice.     

The 'Sussex School' and the history of economic thought: British Intellectual History, 1750-1950

After a brief survey of the Japanese literature on Sraffa, the author explains how his own theory of the microfoundations of Keynesian macro-economics was influenced by Sraff's view of competitive markets. This view can be interpreted that firms perceive kinked demand curves. It is emphasized that Azariadis's theory of implicit contracts can explain unemployment only if we take Sraffa's not Walras's, view of competitive market.     

Patinkin as a reader of Keynes’ General Theory: Are wage cuts a good remedy to unemployment?1

Abstract

This paper analyses Patinkin's appraisal of Keynes’ concept of involuntary unemployment while focusing on his reading of the General Theory Chapter 19. On several critical issues, Patinkin departs from Keynes’ original matters of concerns. He leans against an individual criterion for unemployment and implicitly endorses Wicksell's understanding of voluntary unemployment as chosen leisure. His appraisal of involuntary unemployment as a disequilibrium phenomenon ultimately relies on nominal rigidities and assumes the existence of a competitive adjustment process. On all these three critical points, Patinkin departs from Keynes but also initiates the contemporary New Keynesian programme that went even further from Keynes.     

Of clouds and clocks and Keynes: conceptions of reality and the growth of knowledge function of money ∗

In this paper, John Maynard Keynes' General theoryand the concept of money are given an evolutionary interpretation. This interpretation is based on Karl Popper's delightful essay ‘Of clouds and clocks: an approach to the problem of rationality and the freedom of man’. The essay presents two things: Popper's conception of indeterminism and his general theory of abstractions. Popper's general theory concerns the role of abstractions and rule-governed, hierarchical systems of abstractions in structuring an indeterministic and uncertain world. He applies his general theory to science.Popper maintains that science is an abstract, rule-governed, linguistic process that facilitates criticism as a way of learning about our world. Popper calls this the growth of knowledge function of science. Popper's general theory can be applied to Keynes' General theory. Following Popper, I argue for a conception of the economy as a rule-governed, monetary language of commerce that facilitates critically minded inquiry in the domain of ordinary economic transactions. A monetary system facilitates the growth of commonsense knowledge in the economy. I call this the growth of knowledge function of money. An awareness of indeterminism and a growth of knowledge like function of money seem to pervade Keynes' General theory.     

Jacques Le Bourva's theory of endogenous credit-money ∗

About 30 years ago, Jacques Le Bourva published two little-known articles that clearly set out the present post-Keynesian theory of endogenous money developed by Kaldor and Moore. The main features of these two articles are presented, in particular Le Bourva's belief that reverse causation, rather than the instability of the velocity function, is the key objection to the quantity theory of money and the mainstream theory of inflation. Other features include a graphical and an algebraic pedagogical representation of the theory of endogenous money, the use of the Banking school's efflux/reflux mechanism, the dismissal of the money multiplier, and the impossibility of an excess supply of money. Le Bourva's theory of inflation also resembles that adopted by many post-Keynesians, in which price increases due to excessive wage demands and attempts by firms to raise their profit margins to finance investment.     

KEYNES ON WAGE FLEXIBILITY AND THE AUSTRALIAN WAGES SYSTEM*

Keynes' General Theory briefly discusses the Australian wages system, as an example of a system in which an attempt was made to fix real wages by law. Keynes argues that such a system, strictly enforced, generates an unstable unemployment equilibrium or highly volatile money wages and prices. This paper clarifies Keynes' views on the Australian system, with a view to their wider relevance for the significance of real and money wage flexibility and inflexibility in Keynes' economics. The most striking finding is that money wage stickiness is a conclusion, not an assumption, of Keynes' theory of employment.     

A Thoroughly Embodied Economics: A Review of Personalist Economics by Edward J. O'Boyle

In a debate on the future of monetary policy and the displacement of money, Woodford argued that, even if innovations should lead to a situation in which the banks' demand for reserves at the central bank is zero, the central bank can still influence the economy's interest rates because its liability is the economy's unit of account. This paper deals with these topics by considering the implications of emphasizing the function of money as unit of account. In the analysis of money from this perspective, social, institutional and economic factors play a crucial role. Money is a social and historical relation. Therefore, the displacement of money and central banks, though possible, is a complex process involving economic, social and political factors, not merely the result of innovations. The paper also looks at some aspects of Kaldor's theory, which is centered on the fundamental importance of money as unit of account.     

Money as an Institution of Capitalism: Some Notes on a Monetary Theory of Uncertainty

Dillard notes that to consider money as an institution of capitalism means to emphasize that money is an essential element in explaining fluctuations in income and employment. He states that Keynes's liquidity preference theory offers a sound explanation of money as an institution of capitalism. Keynes's explanation is based on a necessary condition, independent of money: the presence of uncertainty. The objective of the paper is to elaborate a different explanation of the role of money, based on Keynes's 1933 and 1937–39 works, according to which the presence of money constitutes the necessary condition to justify the importance of uncertainty.     

The Role of credit in a Keynesian monetary economy

Abstract

This paper describes the features of a monetary economy on the basis of Keynes's distinction between a real exchange economy and a monetary economy. In The General Theory, Keynes identifies the reasons for the non-neutrality of money by highlighting the store of wealth function of money; this approach has been adopted by most Keynesian economists. The aim of this paper is to show that such an approach only partially explains the reasons for money non-neutrality and that important elements which demonstrate the relevance of monetary variables emerge when the means of payment function of money is considered. Investigating the role of this function requires that we deal explicitly with how spending decisions are financed. The paper argues that the market for credit must be considered separately from the market for money, and that a viable credit theory can be built from Keynes's post-General Theory writings.     

The Emergence of Money in Commodity Exchange,or Money as Monopolist of the Ability to Buy

Abstract

Money's emergence in commodity exchange remains an unresolved issue within economic theory. Current general equilibrium models offer an explanation that rests on the economic advantages of a universally accepted means of exchange that is partly established through social custom. These models neither fully explain money's unique ability to buy, nor theorise the customary practices required for money's emergence. They are dominated by Menger's earlier analysis of money's emergence, which pays more attention to the social foundations of money but is still hampered by Austrian individualism. An alternative explanation is given here, drawing on Marx's theory of value but involving a thorough reworking of it. An analytical process is established through which money finally emerges as monopolist of the ability to buy. Particular social custom, whose determinants are consistent with the social underpinnings of commodity exchange, plays a vital role in money's emergence.     

Applying mathematics to economics according to Cournot and Walras

This article examines the reasons that led Cournot to refuse Walras's request that he writes an article defending mathematical economics. From a reading of Cournot's works on philosophy and economics we show three reasons which explain the Cournot's refusal. First, Cournot does not attach the same importance to the theorems proposed by Walras. Second, these theorems enable Walras to defend an economic system that he considers to be truer than any other while Cournot believed that the economy could be subject to various forms of mathematical representations. Third, Cournot does not refer to the same conception of mathematics of Walras.     

Endogenous money and shareholders' funds in the classical theory of banking

By its nature, bank money is endogenous, but its issuing is risky and presupposes the presence of banks' shareholders' funds. Shareholders' funds give banks the means of dealing with the difficulties involved in the process of money creation and which are inherent to the banking activity: convertibility constraint, credit and liquidity risks. Unlike the Richardian paradigm, Smith's ‘real bill theory’ and Thornton's ‘lender of last resort theory’ point out the functions of shareholder's funds. Therefore their monetary-banking approachs seem more complementary than contradictory. In other respects, the theory of endogenous money and credit introduces risks and capital in the analysis of exchange and lead to questioning the classical market theory constructed on the model of bartering     

Fisher and Wicksell on money: A reconstructed conversation

Abstract

The paper offers a reconstruction of the ‘conversation’ between Irving Fisher and Knut Wicksell on money as shown by references they made to each other's works. The first phase corresponded largely to the period between 1897 and 1911, when they proposed different explanations of the interaction between interest and prices, and incorporated aspects of each other's approaches into their own respective frameworks. This was followed by Wicksell's extended criticism of Fisher's compensated dollar plan and his bewilderment at its apparent lack of relation with the quantity theory of money (1912–1919). Finally, especially after Wicksell's death, Fisher came to support a significant part of Wicksell's monetary policy proposals, particularly in connection with the Swedish stabilisation experiment in the early 1930s. Fisher and Wicksell were both heirs of Böhm-Bawerk's interest theory, but interpreted and criticised the Austrian from different perspectives, which helps to explain the differences in their approaches to monetary dynamics.     

On Marx's Analysis of Money Hoarding in the Turnover of Capital

The formation of money hoards, which underpins the demand for money, is typically treated by mainstream monetary theory as originating in the motives of the rational individual. In contrast, Marx's discussion of money hoarding treats hoard formation as a necessary tendency of capitalist production and circulation rather than as a result of the individual's predilections. Based on Marx's analysis, this article identifies several structural reasons for money hoard formation in the circuit of capital. It is also shown that Marx's discussion, despite its insight, suffers from a technical error in analysing the overlapping of production and circulation time in the circuit, and in drawing the implications for hoarding. Finally, it is argued that the broader significance of capitalist money hoarding lies in the foundations it provides for the emergence of the credit system.     

The Significance of the Monetary Context of Economic Behavior

The dominant paradigm in economics views economic behavior as allocative activity in a neutral, C-M-C' economy. As a consequence, money is treated as a veil that is inessential to the real functioning of the economic system. This paper argues that one of Keynes's fundamental insights is the significance of the monetary context of economic behavior. This insight has been developed by the post-Keynesian theory of money as a "time-machine vehicle" that provides the causal link between uncertainty and unemployment. The Circuitist theory of money as the means of final payment provides a complementary radical perspective on the significance of the monetary context. This paper investigates the methodological and theoretical implications of these radical monetary theories and assesses their contribution towards the development of a general theory of a monetary production, M-C-M' economy.     

Tournament incentives and match outcomes in women's professional tennis

Our research examines the effect of prize money differentials in women's professional tennis tournaments on the probability that the favoured player wins the match. This study adds to the existing literature on tournament theory through its focus on Rosen's (1986) elimination-style, match play tournament model. We estimate a standard probit model using a unique data set containing detailed information on prize money, player-specific characteristics, and match play outcomes for all tournaments played during the 2004 tour sponsored by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Our results support predictions by Rosen's tournament model. Larger prize money differentials have a positive, statistically significant effect on the favoured player's probability of winning the match. In addition, the number of stages remaining has a significant, negative effect on winning, consistent with tournament theory predictions associated with the number of contestants in a tournament.     

Time-varying money demand and real balance effects

This paper presents an analysis of the stimulants and consequences of money demand dynamics. By assuming that household's money holdings and consumption preferences are not separable, we demonstrate that the interest-elasticity of demand for money is a function of the household's preference to hold real balances, the extent to which these preferences are not separable in consumption and real balances, and trend inflation. An empirical study of U.S. data revealed that there was a gradual fall in the interest elasticity of money demand of approximately one-third during the 1970s due to high trend inflation. A further decline in the interest-elasticity of the demand for money was observed in the 1980s due to the changing household preferences that emerged in response to financial innovation. These developments led to a reduction in the welfare cost of inflation that subsequently explains the rise in monetary neutrality observed in the data.     

The state as a creature of money

Recent social theories of money have challenged economic conceptions of it as first and foremost a medium of exchange. Writers such as Geoffrey Ingham and David Graeber have revived the chartalist position that money is essentially a creature of the state, whose primary function is to measure value or debt. In this paper, I argue that this is a wrong turning. I first clarify the conceptual underpinnings of Ingham’s treatment of money as an ‘institutional fact’, a concept drawn from Searle. I clarify the sense in which this argument establishes that the state ‘creates’ money – and show that this sense is quite limited. It is a theory of how something comes to be accepted as money, rather than a theory of why there is money in the first place, and it gives no account of money’s value. Finally, I sketch an alternative way of looking at the relationship between states and money. This recognises that modern states have been shaped in part by strategies with regard to monetary management, with state actors engaging strategically in a system they only partially constitute – so that states are ‘creatures of money’ as much as the reverse.     

How justified is abandoning money in the conduct of monetary policy in Australia on the grounds of instability in the money‐demand function?

The role of money in the design and conduct of monetary policy has reemerged as an important issue in both advanced and developing economies, especially since the 2007 global financial crisis. A growing body of recent literature suggests that the causal relationship between money supply growth and inflation remains intact across countries and over time and that this relation is not conditional on the stability of the money‐demand function or whether money is endogenous or exogenous. Moreover, critical for a rule‐based monetary policy is the presence of a long‐run stable money‐demand function, rather than a short‐run money‐demand model that may exhibit instability for many reasons, including problems with estimating a money‐demand model with high‐frequency data. Provided that a stable money‐demand function exists, it could be useful to establish long‐run equilibrium relations among money, output, prices, and exchange rates, as the classical monetary theory suggests. Within this analytical framework, this paper addresses the question of whether money has any role in the conduct of monetary policy in Australia. The conventional wisdom is that the money‐demand function in Australia has been unstable since the mid‐1980s due to financial deregulation and reforms; this led to a change in the strategy of monetary policy for price stability in the form of inflation targeting that ignores money insofar as inflation and its control are concerned. This paper reports empirical findings for Australia, obtained from a longer quarterly data series over the period 1960Q1–2015Q1, which suggest that instability in the narrow‐money‐demand function in Australia was primarily due to the exclusion of variables which have become important in the deregulated environment since the 1980s. These findings are confirmed by an expanded form of the narrow‐money‐demand function that was found stable over the past two decades, although it experienced multiple structural breaks over the study period. The paper draws the conclusion that abandoning the monetary aggregate as an instrument of monetary policy in Australia, under a rule‐based monetary policy such as inflation targeting, cannot be justified by instability in the money‐demand function or even by lack of a causal link between money supply growth and inflation.