IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ipewps/1182019.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Karl Marx: An early post-Keynesian? A comparison of Marx's economics with the contributions by Sraffa, Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky

Author

Listed:
  • Hein, Eckhard

Abstract

This paper compares Marx's economics with those by Sraffa, Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky. The paper takes an "ex post" view on the matter and rather looks at the output side of the respective authors, but not at the input side. This means no attempt is made at studying in a systematic way, if and to what extent Sraffa, Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky were individually influenced by Marx's work. First, the relationship between Marx's theory of value and Sraffa's reformulation of the classical theory of prices and distribution is reviewed. Then the relationship between Marx's and Keynes's monetary theory is examined relying on an interpretation of Marx's theory of value as a "monetary theory of value". Next, some light is shed on the Marx-Kalecki connection focusing on Marx's theory of simple and extended reproduction and the built-in, although not fully elaborated "principle of effective demand" and the related theories of distribution and accumulation. Finally, Marx's and Minsky's views on financial instability and crises are scrutinised. It is concluded that Marx should not be considered as an "early post-Keynesian" but rather as an important forerunner of modern post-Keynesianism, with certain similarities, but also some important differences, and several areas of compatibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Hein, Eckhard, 2019. "Karl Marx: An early post-Keynesian? A comparison of Marx's economics with the contributions by Sraffa, Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky," IPE Working Papers 118/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ipewps:1182019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/195935/1/1663468796.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Trevor Evans, 1997. "Marxian Theories of Credit Money and Capital," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 7-42, March.
    2. Nicholas Kaldor, 1955. "Alternative Theories of Distribution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 23(2), pages 83-100.
    3. Riccardo Bellofiore, 2018. "Forever young Marx's Critique of political economy after 200 years," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 71(287), pages 353-388.
    4. Gordon, David M, 1981. "Capital-Labor Conflict and the Productivity Slowdown," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 30-35, May.
    5. Marc Lavoie, 2014. "Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations," Post-Print hal-01343652, HAL.
    6. Ben Fine & Alfredo Saad-Filho, 2018. "Marx 200: The Abiding Relevance of the Labour Theory of Value," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 339-354, July.
    7. Shaikh, Anwar, 2016. "Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199390632.
    8. Joan Robinson, 1962. "Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-00626-7.
    9. Eckhard Hein & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2010. "Macroeconomic Policy Mix, Employment and Inflation in a Post-Keynesian Alternative to the New Consensus Model," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 317-354.
    10. Duncan K. Foley, 2000. "Recent Developments in the Labor Theory of Value," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 1-39, March.
    11. Epstein,Gerald A. & Gintis,Herbert M., 2011. "Macroeconomic Policy after the Conservative Era," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521148412, January.
    12. James R. Crotty, 1993. "Rethinking Marxian Investment Theory: Keynes-Minsky Instability, Competitive Regime Shifts and Coerced Investment," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 25(1), pages 1-26, March.
    13. Marc Lavoie, 1995. "Interest Rates In Post-Keynesian Models Of Growth And Distribution," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 146-177, June.
    14. Terrence McDonough & Cian McMahon, 2018. "Marxism, Crypto-Marxism and the Political Economy of Capitalism," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 396-415, July.
    15. Marc Lavoie, 2009. "Introduction to Post-Keynesian Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-23548-9.
    16. Fan-Hung, 1939. "Keynes and Marx on the Theory of Capital Accumulation, Money and Interest," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 28-41.
    17. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    18. Jan Toporowski, 2018. "Marx, Finance and Political Economy," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 416-427, July.
    19. Dudley Dillard, 1984. "Keynes and Marx: A Centennial Appraisal," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 421-433, March.
    20. S. S. Alexander, 1940. "Mr. Keynes and Mr. Marx," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 7(2), pages 123-135.
    21. Dudley Dillard, 1984. "Keynes and Marx: A Centennial Appraisal," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 6(3), pages 421-432, April.
    22. Eckhard Hein, 2006. "Money, interest and capital accumulationin Karl Marx's economics: a monetary interpretation and some similaritiesto post-Keynesian approaches," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 113-140.
    23. Michael Williams, 2000. "Why Marx Neither Has Nor Needs a Commodity Theory of Money," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 435-451.
    24. Harcourt,G. C., 2022. "Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781009158152, January.
    25. Claudio Sardoni, 2011. "Unemployment, Recession and Effective Demand," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13837.
    26. Lavoie, Marc, 1996. "Horizontalism, Structuralism, Liquidity Preference and the Principle of Increasing Risk," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 43(3), pages 275-300, August.
    27. Giancarlo de Vivo & Giorgio Gilibert, 2013. "On Sraffa and Marx: a Comment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(6), pages 1443-1447.
    28. Nicholas Kaldor, 1985. "How Monetarism Failed," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 4-13, May.
    29. Bhaduri, Amit & Marglin, Stephen, 1990. "Unemployment and the Real Wage: The Economic Basis for Contesting Political Ideologies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(4), pages 375-393, December.
    30. John Smithin, 1994. "Controversies In Monetary Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 412.
    31. George Argitis, 2001. "Intra-capitalist Conflicts, Monetary Policy and Income Distribution," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 453-470.
    32. Glick, Mark & Ehrbar, Hans G, 1987. "The Transformation Problem: An Obituary," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(49), pages 294-317, December.
    33. Kurz, Heinz D, 1979. "Sraffa after Marx," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(32), pages 52-70, June.
    34. Dutt, Amitava Krishna, 1984. "Stagnation, Income Distribution and Monopoly Power," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(1), pages 25-40, March.
    35. Kenway, Peter, 1980. "Marx, Keynes and the Possibility of Crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 4(1), pages 23-36, March.
    36. Marc Lavoie, 1984. "The Endogenous Flow of Credit and the Post Keynesian Theory of Money," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 771-797, September.
    37. Lavoie, Marc, 1999. "The Credit-Led Supply of Deposits and the Demand for Money: Kaldor's Reflux Mechanism as Previously Endorsed by Joan Robinson," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(1), pages 103-113, January.
    38. Eckhard Hein, 2014. "Distribution and Growth after Keynes," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15903.
    39. Fritz Helmedag, 2012. "Principles of capitalistic commodity production," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 9(1), pages 23-34.
    40. Panico, Carlo, 1980. "Marx's Analysis of the Relationship between the Rate of Interest and the Rate of Profits," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 4(4), pages 363-378, December.
    41. Eckhard Hein & Daniel Detzer & Nina Dodig (ed.), 2015. "The Demise of Finance-dominated Capitalism," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16281.
    42. Gordon, David M & Weisskopf, Thomas E & Bowles, Samuel, 1983. "Long Swings and the Nonreproductive Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(2), pages 152-157, May.
    43. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 1995. "Internal Finance And Monopoly Power In Capitalist Economies: A Reformulation Of Steindl'S Growth Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 16-34, 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. Eckhard Hein, 2006. "Money, interest and capital accumulationin Karl Marx's economics: a monetary interpretation and some similaritiesto post-Keynesian approaches," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 113-140.
    2. Hein, Eckhard, 2004. "Money, credit and the interest rate in Marx's economic. On the similarities of Marx's monetary analysis to Post-Keynesian economics," MPRA Paper 18608, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Hein, Eckhard, 2002. "Money, interest, and capital accumulation in Karl Marx's economics: A monetary interpretation," WSI Working Papers 102, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    4. Eckhard Hein, 2005. "Money, Interest, and Capital Accumulation in Karl Marx’s," Method and Hist of Econ Thought 0501002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    6. Eckhard Hein, 2007. "Interest Rate, Debt, Distribution And Capital Accumulation In A Post‐Kaleckian Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 310-339, May.
    7. Hein, Eckhard, 2015. "The principle of effective demand: Marx, Kalecki, Keynes and beyond," IPE Working Papers 60/2015, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    8. Hein, Eckhard, 2018. "Inequality and growth: Marxian and post-Keynesian/Kaleckian perspectives on distribution and growth regimes before and after the Great Recession," IPE Working Papers 96/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    9. Eckhard Hein, 2006. "Interest, Debt and Capital Accumulation—A Kaleckian Approach," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 337-352.
    10. Hein, Eckhard, 2016. "The Bhaduri/Marglin post-Kaleckian model in the history of distribution and growth theories: An assessment by means of model closures," IPE Working Papers 66/2016, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    11. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2017. "Heterodox Theories Of Economic Growth And Income Distribution: A Partial Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1240-1271, December.
    12. Eckhard Hein, 2010. "Shareholder Value Orientation, Distribution And Growth—Short‐ And Medium‐Run Effects In A Kaleckian Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 302-332, May.
    13. Eckhard Hein & Nina Dodig, 2014. "Financialisation, distribution, growth and crises – long-run tendencies," Working papers wpaper23, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    14. Eckhard Hein, 2005. "Finanzstruktur und Wirtschaftswachstum - theoretische und empirische Aspekte," IMK Studies 01-2005, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    15. Kurt, Ozan Ekin, 2022. "Effects of interest rates on functional income distribution, capacity utilization, capital accumulation and profit rates in France: A post-Kaleckian econometric analysis," EconStor Preprints 251003, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Eckhard Hein, 2009. "A (Post-) Keynesian perspective on "financialisation"," IMK Studies 01-2009, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    17. Eckhard Hein & Christian Schoder, 2011. "Interest rates, distribution and capital accumulation -- A post-Kaleckian perspective on the US and Germany," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 693-723, November.
    18. Hein, Eckhard & Dodig, Nina & Budyldina, Natalia, 2014. "Financial, economic and social systems: French Regulation School, Social Structures of Accumulation and Post-Keynesian approaches compared," IPE Working Papers 34/2014, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    19. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931.
    20. Köhler, Kasper, 2018. "The limits to profit-wage redistribution: Endogenous regime shifts in Kaleckian models of growth and distribution," IPE Working Papers 112/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marx; Kalecki; Keynes; Minsky; Sraffa; comparison of economic theories;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B14 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist
    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory

    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:zbw:ipewps:1182019. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iphwrde.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.