12 - Post-Keynesian Macroeconomics

Summary

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter discusses post-Keynesian macroeconomics: the Cambridge tradition and the new Cambridge school. Some of the main protagonists are considered separately: Kalecki, Kaldor Kahn, Joan Robinson and others. The debate on the interpretations of Keynes is then recalled, as well as the debate on the theory of capital and the critique of the marginalist value theory. Kaldor’s and Pasinetti’s post–Keynesian (or ‘Cambridge’) theory of distribution is then illustrated, as well as the developments of the different ‘Sraffian schools’ with the aim of constructing a renewed classical approach. In this direction, some suggestions for a classical–Keynesian synthesis are provided.