Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:19:43.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RICHARD KAHN AND THE STABILIZATION OF COMMODITY PRICES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2017

Annalisa Rosselli
Annalisa Rosselli*
Affiliation:
University of Rome Tor Vergata.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper reconstructs an important and little-known part of the activity of Richard Kahn in the 1950s, both as researcher and as policy advisor, which centered on the drafting of a book for the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Never actually published by the FAO for reasons clarified in this paper, the book dealt with fluctuations in the prices of primary products and how best to curb them. Offering a novel development of an idea first proposed by John Maynard Keynes, Kahn advocates the creation of buffer stocks managed by a supranational authority endowed with ample discretionary powers. The paper presents a complete reconstruction of Kahn’s views on the advantages of buffer stocks as an instrument to stabilize commodity prices, of the context in which these views took shape, and of the way they tied in with other parts of his economic theory and were reflected in his assessment of the commodity international agreements of the time to limit fluctuations in the prices of primary products. It thus fills a significant gap in our knowledge of one of the great economists of the twentieth century.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 483 - 501
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Dardi, Marco. 1994. “Kahn’s Theory of Liquidity Preference and Monetary Policy.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 18 (1): 91–106.Google Scholar
Ezekiel, Mordecai. 1938. “The Cobweb Theorem.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 52 (2): 255–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fantacci, Luca, Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina, Rosselli, Annalisa, and Sanfilippo, Eleonora. 2012. “Speculation and Buffer Stocks: The Legacy of Keynes and Kahn.” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 19 (X): 453–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, Cristopher. 2011. “International Agreements for Commodity Price Stabilisation: An Assessment.” Food, Agriculture and Fishing Working paper, no. 53. Paris: Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.Google Scholar
Hallam, David. 2014. Food Stocks and Price Volatility. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Committee on Commodity Problems.Google Scholar
Harrod, Roy. 1948. Towards a Dynamic Economics: Some Recent Developments of Economic Theory and Their Application to Policy. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kahn, Richard. 1954. “Some Notes on Liquidity Preference.” Manchester School 22 (3): 229–257.Google Scholar
Keynes, John Maynard. 1938. “The Policy of Government Storage of Food-Stuffs and Raw Materials.” Economic Journal 48 (September): 449–460.Google Scholar
Marchisio, Sergio, and Blase, Antonietta Di. 1991. The Food and Agricultural Organization. Graduate Institute for International Studies. Geneva: M. Nijhoff Publishers.Google Scholar
Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina. 2011. “The ‘Elusive Figure Who Hides in the Preface of Cambridge Books.’ An Appraisal of Richard Kahn’s Contributions.” In Gehrke, Christian, Salvadori, Neri, Steedman, Ian, and Sturn, Richard, eds., Classical Political Economy and Modern Theory. Essays in Honour of Heinz D. Kurz. Volume 2. London: Routledge, pp. 185–206.Google Scholar
Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina, ed. 1988. Un discepolo di Keynes. Bologna: Garzanti.Google Scholar
Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina, and Rosselli, Annalisa. 2016. “R. F. Kahn: An Unfailing Disciple of Keynes.” In Cord, Robert, ed., The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 705–721.Google Scholar
Orr, John Boyd. 1966. As I Recall. Introduction by Calder, R.. London: McGibbon and Kee.Google Scholar
Paesani, Paolo, and Rosselli, Annalisa. 2014. “The Case for a Supra-national Control on Commodities in the Post-WWII World: Novel Perspectives from FAO and Kaldor Archives.” History of Economic Thought and Policy 3 (1): 5–30.Google Scholar
Palma, Gabriel. 1994. “Kahn on Buffer Stocks.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 18 (1): 117–127.Google Scholar
Pasinetti, Luigi. 1987. “Kahn.” In Eatwell, John, Milgate, Murray, and Newman, Peter, eds., The New Palgrave. Volume 3. London: Macmillan, pp. 1–3 Google Scholar
Pasinetti, Luigi. 1994. “Richard Kahn, 10 August 1905–6 June 1989.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 18 (1): 3–6.Google Scholar
Porter, Robert. 1950. “Buffer Stocks and Economic Stability.” Oxford Economic Papers 2 (1): 95–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prakash, Adam. 2011. “Why Volatility Matters.” In Prakash, Adam, ed., Safeguarding Food Security in Volatile Global Markets. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, pp. 3–26.Google Scholar
Roncaglia, Alessandro. 2009. “Keynes and Probability: An Assessment.” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 16 (3): 489–510.Google Scholar
Rosselli, Annalisa. 2005. “An Enduring Partnership: The Correspondence between Kahn and J. Robinson.” In Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina and Rosselli, Annalisa, eds., Economists in Cambridge. A Study Through their Correspondence, 1907–1946. London: Routledge, pp. 259–291.Google Scholar
Staley, Alvah Eugene. 1937. Raw Materials in Peace and War. American Coordinating Committee for International Studies. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.Google Scholar
St. Clare Grondona, Leo. 1958. Utilizing World Abundance. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture. 1943. Final Act and Section Reports. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Way, Wendy. 2013. A New Idea Each Morning: How Food and Agriculture Came Together in One International Organization. Canberra: Australian National University Press.Google Scholar
Zaglits, Oscar. 1946. “International Price Control through Buffer Stocks.” Journal of Farm Economics 28 (2): 413–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar