Persefoni Tsaliki - Böcker

Contemporary capitalism is characterized by periods of vigorous economic growth and periods of slow or even negative growth. This book draws on the classical political economy approach to consider both economic cycles and economic growth and draw conclusions about the inherent instability of the modern economy. The book shows that the work of the old classical economists (Smith and Ricardo) and Marx is theoretically sound and capable of providing answers to both growth and cycles. It also demonstrates the potential and natural integration of growth and cycles in a single model. The microeconomic foundation of this model is the labor theory of value, which continues with the General Law of Capital Accumulation, the Law of the Falling Rate of Profit, and the movement of the Industrial Reserve Army of Labour. Finally, a dynamic model of growth-cum-cycles is constructed consisting of the evolution and interaction of five key variables, namely, the rate of profit, the propensity to invest in fixed capital, technological change, the reserve army of labour, and the rate of capital devaluation. The analysis demonstrates that economic growth and cycles are not disconnected from each other, as they have been treated in the literature, but rather interdependent aspects of the same evolutionary process of a capitalist economy. This book will interest readers in the history of economic thought, economic growth and development, macroeconomics, and political economy.

Contemporary capitalism is characterized by periods of vigorous economic growth and periods of slow or even negative growth. This book draws on the classical political economy approach to consider both economic cycles and economic growth and draw conclusions about the inherent instability of the modern economy. The book shows that the work of the old classical economists (Smith and Ricardo) and Marx is theoretically sound and capable of providing answers to both growth and cycles. It also demonstrates the potential and natural integration of growth and cycles in a single model. The microeconomic foundation of this model is the labor theory of value, which continues with the General Law of Capital Accumulation, the Law of the Falling Rate of Profit, and the movement of the Industrial Reserve Army of Labour. Finally, a dynamic model of growth-cum-cycles is constructed consisting of the evolution and interaction of five key variables, namely, the rate of profit, the propensity to invest in fixed capital, technological change, the reserve army of labour, and the rate of capital devaluation. The analysis demonstrates that economic growth and cycles are not disconnected from each other, as they have been treated in the literature, but rather interdependent aspects of the same evolutionary process of a capitalist economy. This book will interest readers in the history of economic thought, economic growth and development, macroeconomics, and political economy.

This book promotes an in-depth understanding of the key mechanisms that govern the functioning of capitalist economies, pursuing a Classical Political Economics approach to do so. It explores central theoretical issues addressed by the classical economists Smith and Ricardo, as well as Marx, while also operationalizing more recent theoretical developments inspired by the works of Sraffa and other modern classical economists, using actual data from major economies.On the basis of this approach, the book subsequently provides alternative explanations for various microeconomic issues such as the determination of equilibrium prices and their movement induced by changes in income distribution; the dynamics of competition of firms within and between industries; the law of tendential equalization of interindustry profit rates; and international exchanges and transfers of value; as well as macroeconomic issues concerning capital accumulation and cyclical economic growth. Given its scope, the book will benefit all researchers, students, and policymakers seeking new explanations for observed phenomena and interested in the mechanisms that give rise to surface economic categories, such as prices, profits, the unemployment rate, interest rates, and long economic cycles.