Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Post Keynesian Economics: A Panel Discussion

The following is an audio of a panel discussion on Post Keynesian economics, during the book launch of A Modern Guide to Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Policies (ed. Eckhard Hein and Engelbert Stockhammer; Cheltenham, 2011).

The panel discussion is with Engelbert Stockhammer, Victoria Chick, John Weeks and Simon Mohun:
“Post Keynesian Economics: Achievements, Limitations, Future,” 8 November 2011, UCL, London.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hein, Eckhard and Engelbert Stockhammer (eds.). 2011. A Modern Guide to Keynesian Macroeconomics and Economic Policies. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

1 comment:

  1. Comments.

    Stockhammer:

    @13.25ish -- He's right. Minsky's FSH has not been properly integrated into PK theory. This is terrible because Minsky's 'John Maynard Keynes' lays out a very nice theoretical skeleton upon which the rest of PK theory can be grafted onto.

    @14.25 -- It is certainly strange that the British PK group is weaker than others, given that PK was established largely in Britain. I think this may have had to do with the slightly cultish nature of the early PKers (barring Kaldor, of course). But this tendency is dissolving, I think.

    @17.45 -- I'm not sure if PKers really want to tap into the vein of the actual political economy of the state. It's rather depressing. My own (informal) research into it indicates that capitalist economies will probably be in stagnation for the foreseeable future (maybe 50 years?) provided there is no WWII-style event (which, of course, I hope that there isn't). WWII was literally the only driver of Keynesian policies in any real sense (i.e. beyond social welfare and minor works programs) and without it there is no reason to think that the classical policies would not have been deployed for another 10, 20, 30 years and that the 20th century would have been a stagnationist and extremely unstable century -- which may have, if we're to be EXTREMELY speculative, generated enough heat between the superpowers to spark a "hot" war.

    Weeks:

    @43.00 -- Yep. It's alchemy alright. PK is the only game in town. Alchemy on one side, Gnostic cults on the other. Icy halls all around...

    Simon:

    @57.30 -- On the liquidity trap, he's right. All that ISLM crap is floating all over the place and its 85% garbage. If its targeted at students there should have been a whole chapter on the ISLM. It's not hard to critique. I had a two day exchange with Dean Baker (who is a very open-minded guy) and there are certain points upon which it can be unwound. I wrote something on it -- in my own silly style -- [http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/03/philip-pilkington-policing-the-economists-from-within-their-own-minds-%E2%80%93-islm-as-a-model-of-intellectual-control.html] but I'm sure they could have put something more comprehensive and less lazy together.



    ReplyDelete