May 23, 2011

What is wrong with heterodox economics? Kalecki's profit theory as an example {05}

Working paper at SSRN

Abstract  Kalecki’s profit theory has always been popular among heterodox economists as an alternative approach to solve the paradox of monetary profits. In the present paper, his formula ‘The workers spend what they get, the capitalists get what they spend’ is scrutinized for its logical and factual implications. The analysis shows that Kalecki’s alternative approach points in the right direction but unfortunately shares a crucial conceptual error with standard economics.

May 22, 2011

Schumpeter and the essence of profit {04}

Working paper at SSRN

Abstract  Schumpeter had a clear vision of the developing economy, but he did not formalize it. The quest for a germane formal basis is in the following guided by the general question: what is the minimum set of foundational propositions for a consistent reconstruction of the evolving money economy? We start with three structural axioms. The claim of generality entails that it should be possible to free Schumpeter's approach from its irksome Walrasian legacy and to give a consistent formal account of the elementary circular flow that served him as a backdrop for the analysis of the entrepreneur-driven market system.

May 19, 2011

The Pure Logic of Value, Profit, Interest {03}

Working paper at SSRN

Standard economic models are based on axioms that epitomize the fundamental behavioral assumptions. This approach is trapped in a blind alley. The suggested change of perspective is guided by the question: what is the minimum set of nonbehavioral propositions for the consistent reconstruction of the evolving monetary economy? We start with three structural axioms and determine their real-world implications. The differentiation of the axiom set leads to the structural value theorem. For the limiting case of the harmonic structure a formal link to the classical and neoclassical value theories can be established. 

May 15, 2011

Keynes’s missing axioms {02}

Working paper at SSRN

Abstract  Between Keynes’s verbalized theory and its formal basis persist a lacuna. The conceptual groundwork is too small and not general. The quest for a comprehensive formal basis is guided by the question: what is the minimum set of foundational propositions for a consistent reconstruction of the monetary economy? We start with three structural axioms. The claim of generality entails that it should be possible to prove that Keynes’s formalism is a subset of the structural axiom set. The axioms are applied to a central part of the General Theory in order to achieve consistency and generality.