Pasinetti and the Classical Keynesians: Nine Methodological Issues

Description

Recent economic and financial crises have exposed mainstream economics to severe criticism, bringing present research and teaching styles into question. Building on a solid and vivid tradition of economic thought, this book challenges conventional thinking in the field of economics. The authors turn to the work of Luigi Pasinetti, who proposed a list of nine methodological and theoretical ideas that characterize the Classical Keynesian School. Drawing inspiration from both Keynes and Sraffa, this school has forged a long-standing and ambitious research programme often advocated as a competing paradigm to mainstream economics. Overall, the Classical Keynesian School provides a comprehensive analytical framework into which most non-mainstream schools of thought can be integrated. In this collection, a group of leading scholars critically assess the nine main ideas that, in Pasinetti's view, characterize the Classical-Keynesian approach, evaluating their relevance for both the history of economics and for present economic research.

Enrico Bellino is Professor of Political Economy at the Catholic University of Piacenza. Sebastiano Nerozzi is Professor of History of Economic Thought and Business History at the Catholic University of Milan.

'In a very long and extremely productive career, Luigi Pasinetti has made some major contributions to heterodox economic theory from a classical-Keynesian perspective. His methodological claims, however, have received less critical attention. In this original and stimulating volume fifteen scholars explore the important methodological issues raised by Pasinetti, including questions of realism, rigour, ergodicity, causation, disequilibrium and the supposed microfoundations of macroeconomics. Essential reading!' John E. King, La Trobe University