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Michał Kalecki and the General Theory

In: Kalecki’s Relevance Today

Author

Listed:
  • Don Patinkin

Abstract

In his well-known paper on the phenomenon of independent multiple scientific discoveries, Robert Merton (1961, p. 356) contended that this phenomenon constitutes the ‘dominant pattern’ in science: that indeed ‘all scientific discoveries are in principle multiples’. An example of this contention from our own discipline which is frequently given — and which was, of course, one of the major concerns of the Perugia conference — is the alleged independent discovery of Michał Kalecki of the theory which John Maynard Keynes presented in his celebrated General Theory of Employment Interest and Money (1936). (For convenience, I shall refer to this theory as the General Theory.) It is this claim that I wish to examine. In doing so, I shall place great emphasis on what I shall call the ‘central message’ of a scientist’s writings — the extent to which they show that he ‘really meant it’. Indeed, for reasons that I explain in my book (1982 Chapter 4), I claim that a scientist should not be credited with having made a discovery unless it is part of his central message.

Suggested Citation

  • Don Patinkin, 1989. "Michał Kalecki and the General Theory," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mario Sebastiani (ed.), Kalecki’s Relevance Today, chapter 3, pages 25-44, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-10376-8_3
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-10376-8_3
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