IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/121951.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Micro-Macro Divide of Neoclassical Economics vs. the Macro-Microscopic Classical Political Economy Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Tsoulfidis, Lefteris
  • Chatzarakis, Nikolaos

Abstract

This paper examines the conditions leading neoclassical economics to its division into microeconomics and macroeconomics, comparing it with the integrated macroscopic-microscopic approach of Classical Political Economy (CPE). Neoclassical economics emerged in the last quarter of the 19th century introducing a subjective theory of value based on individual preferences and optimizing behavior. The division between micro and macroeconomics became visible during the 1930s crisis due to what came to be known as monopolistic competition and macroeconomic revolutions. The stagflation crisis (of late 1960s to early 1980s) prompted the so-called microfounding of macroeconomics and the unified treatment of macroeconomic issues. By contrast, the CPE maintains a unified perspective, analyzing capitalism broadly at a macroscopic level focusing on labor as the primary value creator. Unlike neoclassical theory, CPE prioritizes aggregated variables and social class incomes driven by survival and profit motives rather than subjective preferences. The paper concludes that issues of effective demand, growth, and cycles can be fruitfully addressed within the unified CPE framework, highlighting the theoretical consistency of employing the labor theory of value for evaluating aggregate variables like capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsoulfidis, Lefteris & Chatzarakis, Nikolaos, 2024. "The Micro-Macro Divide of Neoclassical Economics vs. the Macro-Microscopic Classical Political Economy Approach," MPRA Paper 121951, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:121951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/121951/1/MPRA_paper_121951.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2007. "Meanings of methodological individualism," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 211-226.
    2. Shaikh, Anwar, 2016. "Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199390632.
    3. Rizvi, S Abu Turab, 1994. "The Microfoundations Project in General Equilibrium Theory," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 18(4), pages 357-377, August.
    4. Robinson, Joan, 1971. "The Measure of Capital: The End of the Controversy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 81(323), pages 597-602, September.
    5. K. Vela Velupillai, 2005. "The impossibility of an effective theory of policy in a complex economy," Department of Economics Working Papers 0514, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    6. Weintraub, E Roy, 1977. "The Microfoundations of Macroeconomics: A Critical Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, March.
    7. Frank Hahn, 2003. "Macro foundations of micro-economics," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 21(2), pages 227-232, March.
    8. P. Garegnani, 1970. "Heterogeneous Capital, the Production Function and the Theory of Distribution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 37(3), pages 407-436.
    9. Lucas, Robert Jr, 1976. "Econometric policy evaluation: A critique," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-46, January.
    10. Hiroshi Yoshikawa, 2022. "Reconstruction of Macroeconomics: Methods of Statistical Physics, and Keynes' Principle of Effective Demand," Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, Springer, number 978-981-19-5264-7, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Athreya, Kartik B., 2014. "Big Ideas in Macroeconomics: A Nontechnical View," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262019736, April.
    2. Di Bucchianico, Stefano, 2019. "The Impact of Financialization on the Rate of Profit: A Discussion," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP36, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    3. Yew‐Kwang Ng, 1974. "Harcourt's Survey of Capital Theory," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 50(1), pages 119-129, March.
    4. Andrew G. Haldane & Arthur E. Turrell, 2019. "Drawing on different disciplines: macroeconomic agent-based models," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 39-66, March.
    5. Jonathan F Cogliano, 2023. "Marx’s equalised rate of exploitation," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 47(1), pages 133-169.
    6. Jesus Felipe & Franklin M. Fisher, 2003. "Aggregation in Production Functions: What Applied Economists should Know," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 208-262, May.
    7. Delli Gatti,Domenico & Fagiolo,Giorgio & Gallegati,Mauro & Richiardi,Matteo & Russo,Alberto (ed.), 2018. "Agent-Based Models in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108400046, October.
    8. Bill Gibson, 2008. "Keynesian And Neoclassical Closures In An Agent-Based Context," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2008-03, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    9. Lall Ramrattan & Michael Szenberg, 2010. "Memorializing Paul A. Samuelson: A Review of His Major Works, 1915–2009," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 55(2), pages 67-82, November.
    10. Bill Gibson, 2008. "The Current Macroeconomic Crisis," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2008-02, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    11. Jonathan F. Cogliano & Roberto Veneziani & Naoki Yoshihara, 2022. "Computational methods and classical‐Marxian economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 310-349, April.
    12. Jonathan F. Cogliano, 2017. "Surplus Value Production and Realization in Marxian Theory - Applications to the U.S., 1987-2015," Working Paper Series 2017-01, Dickinson College, Department of Economics.
    13. Jackson, William A., 2013. "The Desocialising of Economic Theory," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 40(9), pages 809-825.
    14. Petri, Fabio, 2021. "What Remains of the Cambridge Critique? On Professor Schefold's Theses," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP50, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    15. Anwar Shaikh, 2012. "Rethinking Microeconomics: A Proposed Reconstruction," Working Papers 1206, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    16. Bell, William Paul, 2009. "Adaptive interactive expectations: dynamically modelling profit expectations," MPRA Paper 38260, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Feb 2010.
    17. Adnan Haider Bukhari & Safdar Ullah Khan, 2008. "A Small Open Economy DSGE Model for Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 963-1008.
    18. Yariv, Leeat & Jackson, Matthew O., 2018. "The Non-Existence of Representative Agents," CEPR Discussion Papers 13397, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. KAMKOUM, Arnaud Cedric, 2023. "The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Global Financial Crisis and its Effects: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Impact of its Quantitative Easing Programs," Thesis Commons d7pvg, Center for Open Science.
    20. Hendry, David F. & Clements, Michael P., 2003. "Economic forecasting: some lessons from recent research," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 301-329, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfoundations; Classical Political Economy; Labor Theory of Value; Utility; Marginal Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:121951. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.