The fiscal sociology of Gino Borgatta: Pareto, extra-economic redistribution and economic growth

The purpose of this study is to establish the extent to whichBorgatta's early fiscal sociology is consistent with, and differentfrom, Vilfredo Pareto's critical views on fiscal theory. Particularemphasis is given to the treatment of the relationship between‘extra-economic’ redistribution, achieved throughfiscal measures, and economic growth. Since evidence of Pareto'sinfluence is much weaker in Borgatta's more mature studies,the ‘definitive’ Paretian fiscal sociology thatemerged in his early ‘Lo Studio Scientifico dei FenomeniFinanziari’ is investigated for possible indications ofwhy Borgatta did not subsequently develop fiscal studies furtheralong Paretian lines.     

Keynesian theorising during hard times: stock-flow consistent models as an unexplored 'frontier' of Keynesian macroeconomics

This paper argues that the stock-flow consistent approach tomacroeconomic modelling (SFCA) is a natural outcome of the pathtaken by Keynesian macroeconomic thought in the 1960s and 1970s,a theoretical ‘frontier’ that remained largely unexploredwith the end of Keynesian academic hegemony. It does so in twosteps. First, it phrases the representative views of Davidson,Godley, Minsky and Tobin as different ‘closures’of the same (SFC) accounting framework, calling attention totheir similarities and logical implications. Second, it discussesunresolved issues within this approach and how it differs from‘modern’ theorising.     

Money, cycles and capital formation: von Mises the 'Austrian' vs. Robertson the 'Dynamist'

A ‘disequilibrium’ between saving and investmentdecisions determines a maladjustment in production, the disruptionof capital, and a downturn in economic activity, according tothe ‘Austrian’ approach. By contrast, the ‘Dynamists’argue that it may lead to economic growth, as disequilibriummay well be instrumental to capital accumulation. What explainsthese different predictions in otherwise similar models? Thekey is in the interplay between the analytical features andthe ideological options underlying each of these approaches:alternative lines of thought, entirely compatible with theiranalytical models, were abandoned by some of these authors whenthey conflicted with their pre-analytical views. This paperillustrates the argument by exploring the models of two ‘fathers’,von Mises and Robertson.     

Preferences, reductionism and the microfoundations of Analytical Marxism

Analytical Marxism has recommended that Marxian theory shouldconform to ‘normal’ scientific methods and thatthis should involve the development of microfoundations. Thelatter has involved the adoption of rational choice theory andits corresponding assumptions regarding agents' behaviour. Thispaper seeks to question this position and highlight a numberof problems which Analytical Marxism faces, particularly inthe domain of economic theory. The different views of scienceespoused by Analytical Marxists display a tension between ‘positivist’and ‘realist’ perspectives, and the arguments forindividualist and anti-reductionist approaches to social andeconomic theory are also argued to be problematic. The approachof Analytical Marxism, it is suggested, can involve the uncriticaladoption of many of the assumptions of standard economic theoryand, as such, it is subject to a number of substantive criticisms,some of which have been elaborated from within mainstream economictheory.     

On Sraffa's Standard commodity: is its price invariant with respect to changes in income distribution?

In his 1960 book, Sraffa suggested using a composite commodity,which he called the ‘Standard commodity’, to solveRicardo's search for an invariable measure of value, i.e., astandard capable of isolating the price movements of any othercommodity induced by changes in income distribution. The absencein Sraffa's book of an explicit proof of the invariance propertyof this standard gave rise to many misunderstandings about itsmeaning and its role as an invariable measure of value. In orderto clear up these questions, Bellino (On Sraffa's Standard commodity,Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 28, 121–32, 2004)has proposed a ‘proper’ definition of an ‘invariablemeasure of value’, showing that Sraffa's Standard commoditydoes fulfil the requirements of this definition. He claims thatthe fulfilment of this property (but not the constancy of its‘nominal’ price) qualifies the Standard commodityas an invariable measure of value. In this paper, a proof ofthe invariance of the price of the Standard commodity with respectto changes in income distribution is given, and the equivalenceof this property with Bellino's definition of invariance isshown.     

Stephen Hymer: Life and the Political Economy of Multinational Corporate Capital

This paper provides a short account of Stephen Hymer's lifeand (its link to) his contribution to the theory of the multinationalenterprise (MNE), but mainly the political economy of multinationalcorporate capital. It suggests that as concerns the theory ofthe MNE, Hymer's contribution has in effect predated most currentextant theory. His contribution to the political economy ofmultinational capital, the focus here, is less known, yet ofextraordinary insight and foresight. Hymer predates most importantdebates on what today is called ‘globalisation’and came up with analysis of the highest quality and predictionswhich in the main have stood the test of time. The chief limitationin Hymer's work stems from a tendency to emphasise the monopolyattributes of large MNEs, and the inefficiency and inequityof ‘multinational corporate capital’. In part becauseof this tendency, some of his later work involved predictionsthat did not necessarily and/or fully follow from his analyticalframework, were shaped by ‘ideology’ and were ofvarying agrees of accuracy. Despite limitations, Hymer's overallcontribution and impact fully deserves the almost ‘cult’status he has acquired in the history of economic thought andinternational business scholarship.     

On Sraffa's Standard commodity

The necessity of expressing the relative price of a commodityin terms of another commodity makes it impossible to distinguishthat part of any change that can be ascribed to the characteristicsof the commodity itself from the part of that change that isto be ascribed to the characteristics of the commodity of reference,i.e., the numéraire. Ricardo (1817) was the first topoint out this problem and the need to find an ‘invariablemeasure of value’, but he was not able to solve the problem.In 1960, Sraffa suggested using a bundle of commodities, thathe called ‘Standard commodity’, to accomplish thisfunction, claiming that it was a standard of value invariantwith respect to changes in the distribution of income. But inSraffa's book there is no explicit proof of this claim. Thisgave rise to many misunderstandings about the Standard commodityand its role as invariable measure of value. This paper proposesa proper definition of an ‘invariable measure of value’,and then proves that the Sraffa ‘Standard commodity’does fulfil the requirements of this definition.     

Hollander, de Vivo and the 'further evidence' for the corn model interpretation of Ricardo: a conspiracy of silence?

This paper reconsiders the debate between de Vivo and Hollanderover the ‘further evidence’ in favour of Sraffa's‘corn model’ interpretation of Ricardo in the lightof Torrens's Letter to Lord Liverpool (1816). It is argued thatthe Letter provides unique evidence of the influence on Torrensof Ricardo's Essay on Profits (1815); and that, contrary tode Vivo, the evidence is not that of a ‘corn model’influence. It is further argued that the manner in which theLetter has been dealt with is unsatisfactory. The shortcomingsin Hollander's position are traced to peculiarities in his long-standinginterpretation of the early Ricardo.     

On Torrens's theory of profits

This paper is about the presence in Torrens's works of the 1810sand 1820s of a theory of profits based on an assumption of physicalhomogeneity between capital and product—a theory thatderived from the ‘corn ratio’ theory of profitsput forward by Ricardo in 1814–15. Some views about Torrens'stheory and its Ricardian origin held by S. Hollander and T.Peach are also briefly discussed and are shown not to be wellfounded, and not to take into account correctly the evolutionof Torrens's views on distribution.     

Monoculture versus diversity in competition economics

Economics rightfully represents the major basis for competitionpolicy. Next to generating knowledge about competition and itswelfare effects, the currently popular ‘more-economicapproach’ is charged with a number of additional hopesand expectations. While this article highlights the benefitsof economics-based competition policy, it takes a cautious stancetowards excessive expectations, in particular regarding theidea that a monocultural, ‘unified’ competitiontheory as an exact, objective and unerring scientific approachto antitrust could make normative assessment and generalisationssuperfluous. Diversity in competition economics is advocatedin two ways. First, competition economics is empirically characterisedby a considerable pluralism of theories and policy paradigms.Second, it is demonstrated that this diversity of theories istheoretically beneficial for future scientific progress. Asno ultimate competition theory can ever be expected., the ‘more-economicapproach’ must be extended in order to embrace diversity.     

Wage formation in historical perspective: the French experience

Translator's note: In this article Robert Bayer introduces thenotion ‘regulation’ as a key concept in analysesof the labour market. The term refers to the balance of social,institutional and economic forces which characte rise at a particulartime the economic system as a whole or particular parts of it.I considered translating ‘regulation’ as ‘order’,‘regime’, ‘system’ or ‘formation’;but these terms are either too static or already bear inappropriateconnotations. It was therefore decided to retain the Frenchexpression in the English text.     

Uncertainty: individuals, institutions and technology

In an attempt to refine the concept of uncertainty, this paperelaborates an ontology of the social world concentrating onindividuals, institutions and technology. It shows the strongentwinement of the ontological aspects of the conceptualisationof uncertainty and epistemological ones. It highlights the ontologicaland epistemological dimensions of different concepts of uncertainty,such as fundamental uncertainty, procedural uncertainty, ambiguityand weak uncertainty (or risk). It also comments on a few writingsthat distinguish varieties of uncertainty with adjectives suchas ‘ontological’ and ‘epistemological’or ‘epistemic’.     

The Asian crisis and the shaping of 'proper' economies

The latter half of the 1990s saw a new international agendadevelop: the ‘strengthening of the international financialsystem’ through the globalisation of standards and codesof ‘best practice’. The author calls for criticalreflection on this normalisation of ‘free market’capitalism and its global enforcement through a comprehensivesystem of economic standardisation and surveillance. To thisend, Michel Foucault's analysis of liberalism is shown to behighly relevant.     

ACCUMULATION, CAPACITY UTILISATION AND DISTRIBUTION

This paper examines three approaches to the process of accumulationwhich are based on the ‘Keynesian premise’: the‘neo-Keynesian’, the ‘Kaleckian’ andthe ‘Sraffian’. Making some criticisms of the firsttwo from the viewpoint of the third and from a certain formal/conceptualperspective, we propose a synthetic model which is free fromthese criticisms and in which the adjustment of savings to investmentin the long period is achieved through all the three routesemphasised separately by these approaches: changes in the long-perioddegree of utilisation; changes in the ‘normal’ distributionof income; and variations in the size of productive capacity.The key to the synthesis is the hypothesis that, in the longperiod, the ‘normal’ degree of utilisation is endogenouslydetermined to coincide with the average level through mutualinfluence effected by investment in the short period. Our syntheticmodel, like the first two approaches, is in the line of steady-stateanalysis, but in a way compatible with the ‘Keynesianpremise’.     

Some Cambridge reactions to The General Theory: David Champernowne and Joan Robinson on full employment

This essay analyses early reactions put forward by Cambridgeeconomists David Champernowne and Joan Robinson to J. M. Keynes'streatment of the labour market in The General Theory. Champernowne'sand Robinson's critical reactions represented attempts to fillthe gap of the determinants of changes in money-wages, whichthey both identified as a weak spot in the argument of the book.They rejected, albeit for different reasons, Keynes's notionof the point of full employment as an upper limit defined bythe equality between the real wage rate and the marginal disutilityof employment. Instead of Keynes's taxonomy of types of unemployment,Champernowne and Robinson introduced, respectively, the conceptsof ‘monetary employment’ and ‘monetary unemployment’,and of ‘critical levels’ of employment.