IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usi/wpaper/735.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The modern revival of the Classical surplus approach: implications for the analysis of growth and crises

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio Cesaratto

Abstract

The paper reviews the main elements of Modern Classical Theory in view of the analysis of contemporary societies and in particular: the recovery of the Classical and Marxist “surplus approach” as a solid foundation for the analysis of social conflict; a demand-led theory of the level and growth of output based on the rejection of Say’s Law and the recovery of the notion of “external markets” put forward by Rosa Luxembourg and Kalecki, as the framework for the investigation of growth and crises in different historical phases of capitalism; the dismantling of the analytical core of Marginalism and of its laissez-faire policy prescriptions; and finally, the rejection of methodological individualism and of subjectivism in economic analysis and the preservation of the analytical methods of the Classical economists and Marx. In this regard, the paper underlines some differences with other heterodox schools, but also convergence with endogenous money theory and with systemic views of technical change.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "The modern revival of the Classical surplus approach: implications for the analysis of growth and crises," Department of Economics University of Siena 735, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:735
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/735.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cesaratto, Sergio, 1999. "Savings and Economic Growth in Neoclassical Theory," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(6), pages 771-793, November.
    2. Olivier Allain, 2015. "Tackling the instability of growth: a Kaleckian-Harrodian model with an autonomous expenditure component," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(5), pages 1351-1371.
    3. Fabio Petri, 2015. "On Some Modern Reformulations of the Labour Theory of Value," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(1), pages 77-104.
    4. Antonella Stirati, 1994. "THE THEORY OF WAGES IN CLASSICAL ECONOmiCS," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 417.
    5. Marc Lavoie, 2016. "Convergence Towards the Normal Rate of Capacity Utilization in Neo-Kaleckian Models: The Role of Non-Capacity Creating Autonomous Expenditures," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 172-201, February.
    6. Schumpeter, Joseph A., 1947. "The Creative Response in Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 149-159, November.
    7. Marc Lavoie, 2014. "Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations," Post-Print hal-01343652, HAL.
    8. Dosi, Giovanni & Fagiolo, Giorgio & Roventini, Andrea, 2010. "Schumpeter meeting Keynes: A policy-friendly model of endogenous growth and business cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1748-1767, September.
    9. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "The state spends first: Logic, facts, fictions, open questions," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 44-71, January.
    10. Antonella Stirati, 2001. "Inflation, Unemployment and Hysteresis: An alternative view," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 427-451.
    11. Sergio Cesaratto, 2017. "Alternative interpretations of a stateless currency crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(4), pages 977-998.
    12. Pierangelo Garegnani, 2024. "Value and Distribution in the Classical Economists and Marx," Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Roberto Ciccone (ed.), Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach, and Effective Demand, pages 305-340, Springer.
    13. L. Randall Wray, 1998. "Understanding Modern Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1668.
    14. Olivier Allain, 2013. "Tackling the instability of growth: A Kaleckian model with autonomous demand expenditures," Post-Print halshs-00821080, HAL.
    15. Pierangelo Garegnani, 2024. "Notes on Consumption, Investment and Effective Demand: I," Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Roberto Ciccone (ed.), Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach, and Effective Demand, pages 387-409, Springer.
    16. Sergio Cesaratto & Antonella Stirati, 2010. "Germany and the European and Global Crises," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 56-86.
    17. Sergio Cesaratto, 2015. "Neo-Kaleckian and Sraffian Controversies on the Theory of Accumulation," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 154-182, April.
    18. McLeay, Michael & Radia, Amar & Thomas, Ryland, 2014. "Money creation in the modern economy," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 54(1), pages 14-27.
    19. Ronald L. Meek, 1971. "Smith, Turgot, and the “Four Stages” Theory," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 9-27, Spring.
    20. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    21. Fabio Freitas & Franklin Serrano, 2015. "Growth Rate and Level Effects, the Stability of the Adjustment of Capacity to Demand and the Sraffian Supermultiplier," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 258-281, July.
    22. Jakab, Zoltan & Kumhof, Michael, 2015. "Banks are not intermediaries of loanable funds – and why this matters," Bank of England working papers 529, Bank of England.
    23. Heinz D. Kurz, 2012. "Don't treat too ill my Piero! Interpreting Sraffa's papers," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(6), pages 1535-1569.
    24. Ferdinando Vianello, 1989. "Effective Demand and the Rate of Profits: Some Thoughts on Marx, Kalecki and Sraffa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mario Sebastiani (ed.), Kalecki’s Relevance Today, chapter 10, pages 164-190, Palgrave Macmillan.
    25. Lerner, Abba P, 1974. "From The Treatise on Money to The General Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 38-42, March.
    26. Aldo Barba & Massimo Pivetti, 2009. "Rising household debt: Its causes and macroeconomic implications--a long-period analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(1), pages 113-137, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. In due Bocconi, video & presentazione
      by Sergio Cesaratto in Politica&EconomiaBlog on 2019-04-11 06:16:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sergio Cesaratto, 2017. "The Nature of the Eurocrisis. A Reply to Febrero, Uxò and Bermejo," a/ Working Papers Series 1703, Italian Association for the Study of Economic Asymmetries, Rome (Italy).

    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. Sergio Cesaratto, 2017. "Beyond the traditional monetary circuit: endogenous money, finance and the theory of long-period effective demand," Department of Economics University of Siena 757, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    2. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "La financiación inicial y final en el circuito monetario y la teoría de la demanda efectiva," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 18(35), pages 47-78, July-Dece.
    3. Guilherme Spinato Morlin & Nikolas Passos & Riccardo Pariboni, 2024. "Growth Theory and the Growth Model Perspective: Insights from the Supermultiplier," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 1130-1155, July.
    4. Sergio Cesaratto & Stefano di Bucchianico, 2020. "Endogenous money and the theory of long-period effective demand," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 14(1), pages 1-38, June.
    5. Gahn, Santiago José, 2021. "On the adjustment of capacity utilisation to aggregate demand: Revisiting an old Sraffian critique to the Neo-Kaleckian model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 325-360.
    6. Steven M Fazzari & Piero Ferri & Anna Maria Variato, 2020. "Demand-led growth and accommodating supply," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 44(3), pages 583-605.
    7. Eckhard Hein, 2018. "Autonomous government expenditure growth, deficits, debt, and distribution in a neo-Kaleckian growth model," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 316-338, April.
    8. Daniele Girardi & Riccardo Pariboni, 2020. "Autonomous demand and the investment share," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 8(3), pages 428-453, July.
    9. Daniele Girardi & Riccardo Pariboni, 2019. "Normal utilization as the adjusting variable in Neo‐Kaleckian growth models: A critique," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(2), pages 341-358, May.
    10. Cesaratto, Sergio, 2017. "Garegnani, Ackley and the years of high theory at Svimez," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP26, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    11. Eckhard Hein & Valeria Jimenez, 2022. "The macroeconomic implications of zero growth: a post-Keynesian approach," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 19(1), pages 41-60, April.
    12. Lorenzo Di Domenico, 2021. "Multiplicity and not necessarily heterogeneity: implications for the long-run degree of capacity utilization," Working Papers PKWP2116, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    13. Ettore Gallo & Maria Cristina Barbieri Góes, 2023. "Investment, autonomous demand and long-run capacity utilization: an empirical test for the Euro Area," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 225-255, April.
    14. Mauro Caminati & Serena Sordi, 2019. "Demand‐led growth with endogenous innovation," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(3), pages 405-422, July.
    15. Sergio Cesaratto, 2002. "The Economics of Pensions: A non-conventional approach," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 149-177.
    16. Morlin, Guilherme Spinato, 2022. "Growth led by government expenditure and exports: Public and external debt stability in a supermultiplier model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 586-598.
    17. Nah, Won Jun & Lavoie, Marc, 2019. "The role of autonomous demand growth in a neo-Kaleckian conflicting-claims framework’," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 427-444.
    18. Santiago José Gahn & Alejandro González, 2022. "On the empirical content of the convergence debate: Cross‐country evidence on growth and capacity utilisation," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 825-855, July.
    19. Pariboni, Riccardo & Girardi, Daniele, 2018. "A(nother) Note on the Inconsistency of Neo-Kaleckian Growth Models," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP31, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    20. Dejuán, Óscar & McCombie, John S.L., 2018. "The Supermultiplier-Cum-Finance. Economic Limits of a Credit Driven System," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP32, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Classical economists; Sraffa; Kalecki; Keynes; Surplus approach; heterodox economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B12 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Classical (includes Adam Smith)
    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • 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:usi:wpaper:735. 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: Fabrizio Becatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desieit.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.