Robert Vienneau: Thoughts Economics

Figure 1: A Partitioning Of The Parameter Space1.0 Introduction I consider here a case where two different techniques have the same wage curve. A simple labor of theory of value describes prices in the case under consideration. I treat the labor coefficient and another coefficient of production for a process in one technique as parameters. And I look at what happens when they vary. A note on terminology: on the basis of expert advice and peer review, I am no longer using the term...

Steve Keen and others, in a showy bit of performance art in London, have called for a reformation of economics. Imitating Luther, they have nailed some theses to a door. Here's some links: Guardian article Letters to the editor in response. New Weather Institute blog post. 33 Theses. An article by Ben Chu, in the Independent saying, more or less, let's not get carried away. I do not know who Charles Mudede is or what his platform is. His style is more popular and very different from mine....

Richard Thaler espouses an incorrect imperfectionist viewpoint. If only all markets were competitive, agents did not suffer from limitations in calculating and lack of information, etc., all markets would clear. Or so he says, at least when it comes to the labor market: Perceptions of fairness ... help explain a long-standing puzzle in economics: in recessions, why don't wages fall enough to keep everyone employed? In a land of Econs, when the economy goes into a recession and firms face...

Unlearning Economics adds a comment to a long-ago thread on the ignorance of Henry Hazlitt. Tim Worstall lies (I informed Worstall at least a decade ago of the existence of economists who do not agree): "These old things about supply and demand in Econ 101 really are true, when the price of something rises then people do tend to buy less of it. Force up the minimum wage and people will buy less minimum wage labour. All economists would agree to the basic idea, the discussion becomes at...

Figure 1: A Labor Demand Function1.0 Introduction I am not sure the above graph works. I could draw three-dimensional graphs in PowerPoint, for models specified with algebra, where relative sizes are indefinite. But, I would need to be able to draw parallel lines, and so on. This post presents a model of extensive rent, with one produced commodity. A labor demand function, for a given rate of profits, graphs real wages versus employment. The resulting function is a non-increasing step...

Figure 1: A Bifurcation Diagram1.0 Introduction I have been looking at how bifurcation analysis can be applied to the choice of technique in models in which all capital is circulating capital. In my sense, a bifurcation occurs when a switch point appears or disappears off the wage frontier. A question arises for me about how to apply or visualize bifurcations in models with land, fixed capital, and so on. This post starts to investigate this question by looking at a numerical example of...

Coefficients for First Column in Leontief Input-Output Matrix I have uploaded a draft paper with the post title to my SSRN site. Abstract:This note demonstrates that the special case condition, needed for a simple labor theory of value (LTV), of equal organic compositions of capital does not suffice to determine technology. A model of the production of commodities, with circulating capital and all commodities basic, is analyzed. Given direct labor coefficients and labor values, an...

Figure 1: A Bifurcation Diagram This post expands on this previous post. The technology is the same, but the rates of decrease of the coefficients of production in the Beta and Gamma corn-producing processes are not fixed. Instead, I consider the full range of parameter values. (I find the graphs produced by bifurcation analysis interesting for this case, but I think a two-commodity example can be found with more pleasing diagrams.) Anyways, Figure 1 shows a bifurcation diagram for the...

Figure 1: A Bifurcation Diagram This post presents another example of bifurcation analysis applied to structural economic dynamics with a choice of technique. This example illustrates: Two reswitching examples appear and disappear without a restitching bifurcation ever occurring, at least on the wage frontier. Two bifurcations over the wage axis arise. At the time each bifurcation of this type occurs, another switch point for the same techniques exhibits a real Wicksell effect of zero....

Variation of Switch Points with Technical Progress in Two Industries I have a new working paper - basically an update of one I have previously described. Abstract: This article illustrates the application of bifurcation analysis to structural economic dynamics with a choice of technique. A numerical example of the Samuelson-Garegnani model is presented in which technical progress is introduced. Examples of temporal paths through the parameter space illustrate variations of the wage...