Lately, when trying to write up my results I use terminology from classical political economy. The table below maps some terms from classical political economy to terminology for marginalists. Terminology ClassicalMarginalistUse valueUtilitySupplyQuantity suppliedDemandQuantity demanded(Normal) profitsInterestExtra profits(Pure) economic profitsSupernormal profitsMarket pricesShort run pricesNatural pricesLong run pricesPrices of production I probably am leaving some important mapping out....
Read More »Reswitching Of The Order Of Fertility
Figure 1: An Example of the Reswitching of the Order of Fertility1.0 Introduction Nobody has ever pointed out the possibility highlighted by this post, as far as I know. This post can be contrasted with this one. Talk of "switch points" and "reswitching" for the wage curves on the left pane in Figure 1 above is, arguably, an abuse of terminology. Quantity flows do not change around the switch points. The same lands are fully farmed, and the same land that is partially farmed has the same...
Read More »John Barkley Rosser, Jr. (1948-2023)
Barkley Rosser's professional contributions include the study of complex dynamics in economic models, development and transition economics, observations on the sociology of economists, and editorship. I knew him through Internet discussions and his editing of one of my articles. Peter Dorman has an obituary. Rosser's major book on complexity economics went through two editions. I am not sure I ever made it totally through his book. I think of him as building on, in the Post-Keynesian...
Read More »Herb Gintis (1940 – 2023)
[embedded content]An Academic Lecture from Gintis I know of Herb Gintis more of as an Internet personality than through his work, mostly with Samuel Bowles. I also know of him as an important historical figure in one of those periodic purges of the Harvard economics departments. As I understand it, he went to Harvard for a graduate degree towards the end of the 1960s, intending to study mathematics. He was against the Vietnam war and fell in with a radical crowd. Given this interest in...
Read More »Reswitching Of The Order Of Rentability
Figure 1: An Example of the Reswitching of the Order of Rentability1.0 Introduction Nobody has ever pointed out the possibility highlighted by this post, as far as I know. Talk of "switch points" and "reswitching" for the rent curves on the right pane in Figure 1 above is an abuse of terminology. Under capitalism, land obtains rent because land is scarce. The power of the state backs up individuals prohibiting others from using free gifts of nature. (Propertarians are about encouraging...
Read More »A Choice Of Books
This post is for my use next time I go book shopping. Bellino, Enrico. 2021. Production, Value and Income Distribution: A Classical-Keynesian Approach Butler, Gavan. 2018. Political Economy Now! The Struggle for Alternative Economics at the University of Sydney Cuyvers, Ludo. 2022. Neo-Marxism and Post-Keynesian Economics: From Kalecki to Sraffa and Joan Robinson Pierangelo Garegnani. 2023. Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach, and Effect Demand: An Alternative Framework for the...
Read More »A Fluke Case For Extensive Rent
Figure 1: Wage Curves and Rent for an Example of Extensive Rent This is basically an introduction to a draft research article. Maybe I have difficulty in justifying paying attention to the type of fluke points I haqve been exploring and in formally defining why they are flukes. In this post, I present a partition of a parameter space associated with an example of extensive rent. It is probably too complicated to replace this example. Anyways, I have constructed a new fluke case. Here a...
Read More »Elsewhere
[embedded content]Mary Filippo's "My Mis-Education in 3 Graphics"Discussion between Unlearning Economics and Blair Fix An article in Current Affairs on "The death of 'Econ 101'" A symposium in Contributions to Political Economy John Eatwell, Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence Theodore Mariolis and Panagiotos Veltsistas, Zero measure Sraffian economies: new insights from actual input-output tables Jacobo Ferrer Hernándex and Luis Daniel Torres-González, Some recent...
Read More »An Outline Of A History Of Socialism
In my study of economics, I have learned a bit about socialism. Writing a book based on this outline is a years-long project. Some parts are not filled out in the outline because I know too much and my thoughts are unorganized (not that you might disagree with my emphasis and story). Others are not filled out because I know too little. I am aware I have spelling mistakes. Some needs to be reorganized. Introduction, Overall Themes Socialists advocate that capitalism be replaced by a...
Read More »Journals To Which I Might Submit Articles
I am thinking about my work of fluke switch points. Here are some possibilities, some of which are more of a stretch: Bulletin of Political Economy Cahiers D'Économie Politique Cambridge Journal of Economics Capital & Class Challenge Contributions to Political Economy Economic Systems Research Metroeconomica Review of International Political Economy Review of Political Economy Review of Radical Political Economics Science and Society Structural Change and...
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