Domenico Mario Nuti (1937-)

I am flattered at being classed as a rebel but I regard myself more as an omnivorous eclectic (of “catholic” tastes, I would say, if that label were not so potentially confusing when applied to a non-practicing atheist). I am not fond of labels; like all aggregates they destroy information and are potentially misleading. If pressed, I would choose a handful of them. I would call myself a keynesian-kaleckian-kaldorian-robinsonian, when modelling the macroeconomics of the capitalist economy; a “left-wing monetarist” (as Peter Wiles recently actually called me) when modelling the macroeconomics of the socialist economy; a consumer of Marxian techniques when studying the dynamics of economic institutions and systems, but ready to turn them against Marx-inspired systems with a vengeance; a neo-classical in microeconomics, convinced of the importance of prices and a strong supporter—though very critical—of markets as homeostatic mechanisms, indispensable no matter how crude or imperfect. What approach is best depends on the question you ask (Lange); you choose a model as you would choose a map, according to the nature of your journey (Joan Robinson).