Sobre a Determinação da Taxa de Juros e os Ciclos de Comércio em Marshall

This essay presents a brief review of Alfred Marshall’s contributions in three main theoretical fields: first of all, we focus on the Marshallian interest rate theory; following, his analysis about the determination of the aggregate price level is considered. Finally, we approach Marshall’s ideas concerning the nature of business cycles. In our view this kind of recovering has great relevance for an adequate understanding of the evolution of economic thought since the classics, and for accurately appreciating the theoretical elements subsequently developed by Pigou and Robertson in the context of a loanable funds theory of interest determination and in their respective explanations about the nature of cycles. This conception, subsequently opposed by Keynes in his General Theory, emerged where aggregate demand failures viewed as persistent phenomena does not constitute relevant theoretical possibility in a context where there is a clear dichotomy between the short and the long run in the economic processes.