Readings - University of Southern California



Economics 527 Theory of Value: Classical Origins and Neoclassical Critique

The development of the theory of value and distribution

Fall 2019

Professor: John Eatwell

Email: je24@cam.ac.uk

Office: KAP 360

Office Hours: Tuesday 4:00pm-5:00pm

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Students with disabilities:

Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday – Friday, 8:30 – 5:00. The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.

Course description/Goals:

Although this is a course in the History of Economic Thought, the focus of the course will be the development of analysis, rather than a concern with historiography. The approach will attempt to answer the following questions: What analytical problems was a particular author trying to solve? How was the solution constructed? Was it analytically sound?

The class will analyse first, the development of the classical theory of value and distribution by Smith, Ricardo and Marx; second, the critique of classical theory by the early neoclassical economists, Edgeworth, Walras and Marshall; third the revival of classical theory following the critique of neoclassical capital theory by Sraffa; and finally, the implications of the these three bodies of analysis for modern general equilibrium theory, and for macro-economics. There will be an emphasis on reading original sources.

Pre-requisites:

Econ 303 and Econ 305.

Requirements:

In-class examinations on 12th September and 3rd October, and a term paper on a topic agreed with the instructor (topics will be suggested) to be handed in at the Department Office no later than 12 noon on Friday, December 6th.

Readings

You will need to read substantial parts of four great classics:

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776.

David Ricardo, The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, (Sraffa edition, Volume I of the Collected Works, Cambridge University Press, 1951), 1821.

Léon Walras, Elements of Pure Economics, (Jaffé edition, Irwin, Illinois, 1954), 1874.

Piero Sraffa, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1960, Part One.

Everyone should familiarise themselves with the set of mathematical results that are central to the argument of the course: the Perron-Frobenius Theorems on non-negative square matrices. See G. Debreu and I.N. Herstein, ‘Non-negative square matrices’, Econometrica, 1953; or, for a relatively simple introduction, L.L. Pasinetti, Lectures on the Theory of Production, Macmillan, London, 1977; pages 267-77.

A useful source of material is J. Eatwell, M. Milgate and P. Newman (editors), The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, 4 volumes, Macmillan, London, 1987.

For analysis of the relationship between theories of value and distribution and macroeconomics see J. Eatwell and M. Milgate, The Fall and Rise of Keynesian Economics, Oxford University Press, New York, 2011.

The readings marked with an asterisk should be prioritised.

27 August - Foundations of the theory of value and distribution, Smith’s concepts of natural and market price, Marshall’s long-run and short-run.

*Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book 1, chapter 7.

*G. Vaggi, ‘Natural price’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

J. Clifton, ‘Competition and the development of the capitalist mode of production’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1977.

Karl Marx, ‘Introduction to the critique of political economy’, in D. Horowitz, ed. Marx and modern Economics, Monthly Review Press, New York, 1968

*P. Garegnani, ‘On a change in the notion of equilibrium in recent work on value and distribution’, in Murray Brown et al., eds., Essays in Modern Capital Theory, North Holland, 1976

29 August - The “surplus approach” to the theory of value and distribution, Smith’s labour commanded theory of value, Ricardo’s Theory of Profits and the labour embodied theory of value.

*David Ricardo, Principles, The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Volume I, chapter 1; and ‘Absolute and exchangeable value’, Volume IV.

*G. de Vivo, ‘David Ricardo’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

P. Garenani, ‘Surplus approach to value and distribution’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*P. Sraffa and M.H. Dobb, ‘Introduction’, The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Volume I.

J. Eatwell, ‘The interpretation of Ricardo’s Essay on Profits’, Economica, 1975

3 September - Marx’s transformation problem, Sraffa’s Production of Commodities.

*Karl Marx, Capital, Volume 3, Chapter 9.

M. Desai, ‘Value and price’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*J. Eatwell, ‘Mr. Sraffa’s standard commodity and the rate of exploitation’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1975.

A. Shaikh, ‘Surplus value’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*P. Sraffa, Production of Commodities, Part One.

I. Steedman, Marx after Sraffa, NLB, London, Chapters 1-4.

5 September - Ricardo’s theories of intensive and extensive rent, modern extensions of the theory of rent.

*N. Kaldor, ‘Alternative theories of distribution’, in Essays on Value and Distribution, Duckworth, London, 1980.

*P. Sraffa, Production of Commodities, Chapter XI.

G. Montani, ‘Extensive and intensive rent’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*J. Eatwell, ‘Returns to scale’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics

J.S. Metcalfe and I. Steedman, ‘Reswitching and primary input use’, Economic Journal, 1972.

10 September – A round-up of topics in classical theory: joint-production, Say’s Law, Mill’s critique of Ricardo.

J.S. Mill, ‘Notes on N.W. Senior’s Political Economy’, published in Economica, 1965.

*P. Garegnani, ‘Notes on consumption, investment and effective demand, Part One’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1978.

T. Sowell, ‘Say’s Law’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*B. Schefold, ‘Joint production in linear models’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

12 September Midterm 1

17 September – Jevons, Menger and Walras, foundations of the neoclassical critique of the classical theory of value and distribution.

K. Vaugn, ‘Carl Menger’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

T. Peach, ‘Jevons as an economic theorist’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*Léon Walras, Elements of Pure Economics, Lessons 38-40.

*J. Eatwell, ‘Competition’, in Classical and Marxian Political Economics, ed. I. Bradley and M. Howard, Macmillan, London, 1982.

19 September - Walras’s theory of capital, Morishima’s extension of Walras’s model, existence proofs.

Léon Walras, Elements of Pure Economics, Part V.

*J. Eatwell, ‘Walras’s theory of capital’, in The New Palgrave: a Dictionary of Economics.

*M. Morishima, Equilibrium, Stability and Growth, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964. Note to Chapter III.

24 September - The critique of the neoclassical theory of profits.

*P. Garegnani, ‘Quantity of capital’, in Capital Theory, ed. J. Eatwell, M. Milgate and P. Newman

P.A.Samuelson, ‘Parable and realism in capital theory: the surrogate production function’, Review of Economic Studies, 1962

P. Garegnani, ‘Heterogeneous capital, the production function, and the theory of capital’, Review of Economic Studies, 1970.

26 September - Solow’s rate of return, Arrow-Debreu equilibrium and the theory of profits.

*R.M. Solow, ‘The interest rate and transition between techniques’, in C.H. Feinstein, ed. Socialism, Capitalism and Economic Growth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967.

*L.L. Pasinetti, ‘Switches of technique and the rate of return in capital theory’, Economic Jourmal, 1969.

L.L. Pasinetti, ‘Again on capital theory and Solow’s rate of return’, Economic Journal, 1970.

*J. Eatwell, ‘Irving Fisher’s ‘rate of return over cost’ and the rate of profit in a capitalistic economy’, in Essays in Modern Capital Theory, ed. Murray Brown et al., North Holland, 1976

K.J. Arrow and F.H. Hahn, General Competitive Analysis, Holden Day Inc, San Francisco, 1971; chapters 1 and 2

J. Eatwell and M. Milgate, ‘Some deficiencies of Walrasian intertemporal general equilibrium’, in G. Mongiovi and F. Petri, eds, Value, Distribution and Capital: Essays in Honour of Pierangelo Garegnani, Routledge, London, 1999.

*P. Garegnani, ‘On a change in the notion of equilibrium in recent work on value and distribution’, in Murray Brown et al., eds., Essays in Modern Capital Theory, North Holland, 1976.

F. Petri, General Equilibrium, Capital and Macroeconomics, Edward Elgar, Northampton, Mass., 2004; chapters 1 to 6.

1 October - Classical and neoclassical theories of value and distribution in the analysis of output and employment.

*P. Garegnani, ‘Notes on consumption, investment and effective demand, Part Two’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1978

*J. Eatwell and M. Milgate, The Fall and Rise of Keynesian Economics, Oxford University Press, New York, 2011; Preamble and chapters 8, 10, 12 and 13.

J. Eatwell, ‘The long-period theory of unemployment’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1983

3 October – Midterm 2

6 December – Term paper to be sent to je24@cam.ac.uk, and hard copy handed in to the Department office by 12 noon.

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