Financial crises and cyclic development according to the approach of Paolo Sylos Labini

In his “Le prospettive dell’economia mondiale” (“Prospects for the world economy”) of 2003 Paolo Sylos Labini analyses the real and financial factors of the American economy and expresses pessimistic forebodings on the future economic trends in the USA and other parts of the world which, in the light of the events occurring as from 2007, can now be seen to have been justified. The aim of this paper is to provide his ideas with a place in the present debate on the American financial crisis and, to this end, the paper is divided into three parts. To begin with we will delineate the approach taken by Paolo Sylos Labini in examining the links between the financial system and economic system, highlighting the classical, Schumpeterian and Keynesian elements contained in it. We will then turn the focus on the four key elements of financial crisis according to Sylos: income distribution, innovation, market forms and debt sustainability. Finally, we will recall some considerations by Sylos on the three themes central to the present debate on the American crisis, namely the rate of interest in monetary policy, the role of the managers, and expectations.