Alternative Wirtschaftswissenschaftler/-innen

How to become a postkeynesian economist?

"Kahn [1977:386] has referred to 'the effect which the study of orthodox economic theory can have upon a powerful mind.' The same can be said of any graduate program in economics. Training of the mind screens out what is irrelevant to the program at hand, even in the case of the not-so-powerful mind. In this spirit, the Cambridge tradition will impress itself on the person who: begins with Marshall; reads Keynes' The End of Laissez Faire; then Sraffa's 1926 article which challenged Marshallian economics; then The General Theory and the Moggridge [JMK 13:338] account of the Circus; next, Kalecki's essays or Robinson's accounts of his contribution; Harrod's Towards a Dynamic Analysis comes next, but is to be skimmed; Sraffa's Introduction to his edition of Ricardo's works; Robinson's Accumulation and Kaldor's article, Alternative Theories of Distribution, or perhaps Robinson's Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth along with Kaldor; then Sraffa's Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities.

This is essentially the intellectual route taken to arrive at the Cambridge view, a view different from that of American mainstream economics. Of course, if one is already powerfully attached to orthodox theory, then the deprogramming will not work. However, the person will at least understand that another view is possible, and that it is a positive program, not one relying only on criticisms of the mainstream. What about Ricardo and Marx? Their influence is felt mainly through the Sraffa and Kalecki contributions."

aus: Marjorie S. Turner; Joan Robinson and the Americans; M. E. Sharpe, Inc.; Armonk, New York -- London, England 1989, S.244/245.

Kahn, Richard [1977]: Malinvaud on Keynes, in: Cambridge Journal of Economics, December, S. 375-388.

John Maynard Keynes [13]: Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, ed. by D. Moggridge, London, Cambridge, Vol. 13.

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