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Samuelson, Keynes and the Search for a General Theory of Economics

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  • Roger Backhouse

Abstract

Responding to the claims Keynes made in his “General Theory”, economists debated whether Keynesian economics or classical economics was more general. This paper argues the concept of generality underlying most of this literature differs from that underlying the neoclassical synthesis proposed by Paul Samuelson in “Economics”, and that this in turn differed from the notion of generality found in his “Foundations of Economic Analysis”. No fewer than three ideas of what it means to have a general theory are involved. Copyright Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association) 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Roger Backhouse, 2015. "Samuelson, Keynes and the Search for a General Theory of Economics," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 1(1), pages 139-153, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:italej:v:1:y:2015:i:1:p:139-153
    DOI: 10.1007/s40797-015-0009-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Backhouse,Roger E. & Boianovsky,Mauro, 2014. "Transforming Modern Macroeconomics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107435384, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Taiwo Onifade & Savaş Çevik & Savaş Erdoğan & Simplice Asongu & Festus Victor Bekun, 2020. "An empirical retrospect of the impacts of government expenditures on economic growth: new evidence from the Nigerian economy," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Michaël Assous & Muriel Dal Pont Legrand & Sonia Manseri, 2020. "Samuelson's Neoclassical Synthesis in the Context of Growth Economics, 1956-1967," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-12, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    General theory; Keynes; Samuelson; Equilibrium; Neoclassical; Synthesis; A1; B2; B3; B4; D5; E1;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics
    • B2 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925
    • B3 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals
    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • D5 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium
    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models

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