Fighting austerity: Why after 80 years the General Theory is still relevant today,

The guiding spirit of the Keynesian Revolution is that full employment is a goal which can be pursued not by following the free market rules, but by reshaping them by means of public intervention. This message was widely accepted for thirty years as from the end of the Second World War by all the advanced countries which actively engaged in full employment and welfare policies, and subsequently abandoned with the neo-liberal Restoration which saw the dogmas of individualism and de-regulation prevailing. In reclaiming the topical importance of the General Theory, we should take into consideration the changed circumstances of today’s world when compared to those of twenty – let alone eighty – years ago, although there are notable similarities between the Great Depression of the 1930s – Keynes’s world – and our contemporary crisis. However, his prescription for a better society is still relevant: it lies in setting rules and limitations in the market arena, not letting individual self-interest prevail, and putting some governing bodies in charge of filling the gap when deficient aggregate demand occurs, so that the acquisition of material goods and the fruition of the enjoyments of life be not a privilege of the few but the conquest of civilization

Money and Markets:Introduction

In the history of economic thought the relationship between money and market has been interpreted from two contrasting points of view. On the one hand, money is seen as an instrument created by individuals to overcome the difficulties involved in barter, its basic function being as a medium of exchange, while the other view has it that money developed before the market and that its principal function is that of a standard of value. Evidently, therefore, in the former case the unit of account function is seen to have emerged from a practice (exchange of goods and services) based on the advantages to be had for individuals seeking to maximise their utility, while in the latter case money emerges as a rule adopted by members of the community (the political authorities promoting it and ensuring it be respected) which pre-dates the market. As in the case of money, also for the market two approaches have come into confrontation in the course of the history of economic thought. With the first the market is seen as a column bearing the economies characterised by private property and freedom of enterprise. It represents the means by which members of society democratically come to decisions about the use of resources and distribution of income. In the second approach, on the other hand, the market is seen as the means by which decisions on the use of resources and distribution of income, once taken by the groups enjoying economic command, are passed on to the other members of society to be implemented. In the first case the market lies at the heart of the system and serves to prevent the enjoyment of privileges and position rents by some members of society excluding others, while in the second it merely plays a supporting role for the existing patterns of power.Money, markets, alternative theories

John Maynard Keynes: The Economist as Investor

John Maynard Keynes: The Economist as Investor Abstract Keynes the investor has recently attracted the attention of several scholars and quite a few articles have come out in the last five years. A description of Keynes’s dealings has emerged, assessing his performance as an investor as superior but not as stellar as had previously been believed. However, overall evaluation of Keynes’s performance is still lacking. This paper contributes to this growing literature by filling some of the gaps, especially in relation to Keynes’s investment philosophy and economic theory, and by undertaking a more comprehensive review of the available evidence, drawing on some unpublished sources which have not as yet been fully exploite

Victoria Chick (1936-2023)

Questo articolo ripercorre il tentativo di Chick, durato tutta la vita, di smascherare ciò che è stato ed è tuttora distorto nell’interpretazione e nell’applicazione della Teoria Generale. Per semplicità, ho elencato alcune delle distorsioni su cui Chick, insieme ad altri, ha richiamato l’attenzione nel corso degli anni. L’elenco non vuole essere esaustivo e alcune distorsioni sono correlate tra loro, ma spero che il mio catalogo catturi la maggior parte delle questioni che sono state al centro del dibattito e del confronto con la Teoria Generale che ha impegnato Chick per tutta la sua vita

Speculation and regulation in commodity markets: The Keynesian approach in theory and practice

The eleven papers collected in this volume present the results of the research activity undertaken by the participants in the project -The return to Keynes. Speculation and stabilization policies: money and commodities- financed by the Italian Ministry of Education (PRIN 2008). They focus on four main areas of investigation: Keynes’s ideas on speculation, case studies of Keynes speculative activity in selected commodity markets, measures of commodity price volatility and proposals for stabilizing commodity prices in the context of a wider macroeconomic framework. The main conclusions are that: i) there are strong links between fluctuations in prices of primary commodities and agricultural products on the one hand, and financial crisis and structural trade imbalances on the other; ii) in the absence of buffer stocks for commodities and with insurance against price volatility based only on market mechanisms the system is doomed to instability; iii) any policies aiming at stabilizing commodity prices and currencies must go hand in hand with reform of the international monetary system. These conclusions support the view that the original proposals put forward by Keynes are still a valid basis for reforms to cope with the current crisis

Speculation and regulation in commodity markets: The Keynesian approach in theory and practice

The eleven papers collected in this volume present the results of the research activity undertaken by the participants in the project -The return to Keynes. Speculation and stabilization policies: money and commodities- financed by the Italian Ministry of Education (PRIN 2008). They focus on four main areas of investigation: Keynes’s ideas on speculation, case studies of Keynes speculative activity in selected commodity markets, measures of commodity price volatility and proposals for stabilizing commodity prices in the context of a wider macroeconomic framework. The main conclusions are that: i) there are strong links between fluctuations in prices of primary commodities and agricultural products on the one hand, and financial crisis and structural trade imbalances on the other; ii) in the absence of buffer stocks for commodities and with insurance against price volatility based only on market mechanisms the system is doomed to instability; iii) any policies aiming at stabilizing commodity prices and currencies must go hand in hand with reform of the international monetary system. These conclusions support the view that the original proposals put forward by Keynes are still a valid basis for reforms to cope with the current crisis

Victoria Chick (1936–2023), a Restless Challenger to Mainstream Economics: An Appreciation

In this article on Victoria (Vicky) Chick (1936–2023), we intend to cover the main research areas into which Chick devoted her life’s work. We categorise the contributions into three broad fields. First, her work on Keynes’s General Theory and the message that economists have taken from it since its publication. Chick wrote extensively on the many misinterpretations of the General Theory that have clouded its message. Instead, through her writings, she offered an alternative perspective and interpretative line that became central to the post-Keynesian school of thought. Second, her work on Keynes gave her the starting point for her novel understanding on the monetary nature of the economy and was the inspiration in the development of the banking stages of history approach that shows the evolutionary nature of banking theory and practice. Finally, the way in which The General Theory built its argument and the misinterpretation that many mainstream economists took from it led Chick to develop her methodological approach on open and closed systems of analysis and the importance of developing judgement as part of teaching in economics

AVALIAÇÃO DA SEVERIDADE DA FERRUGEM COM A FLUTUAÇÃO E DEPOSIÇÃO DE UREDÓSPOROS DE Puccinia porri DO ALHO

A cultura do alho (Allium sativum L.) é cultivado em várias regiões do Brasil e no sul do Brasil constitui de uma atividade socioeconômica de grande importância em pequena propriedade. No entanto, uma das suas principais doenças é a ferrugem ocasionada pelo patógeno Puccinia porri, que apresenta os sintomas característicos de pústulas amarelas devido a produção de uredósporos, ao decorrer do desenvolvimento da doença podem ocupar a lâmina foliar fazendo com que ocorra o secamento da folha. Pouco se conhece da epidemiologia espacial desta doença e com isso, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a severidade da doença e a flutuação e deposição populacional dos conídios da P. porri ao longo do ciclo da cultura. O trabalho foi realizado no Instituto Federal Catarinense- Campus Rio do Sul, no período de 14 de junho a 09 de novembro de 2021 utilizando utilizada a cultivar Chonan. Os bulbilhos foram semeados no campo em quatro parcelas de 5x1,25m com cinco linhas cada e espaçamento de 25x10 entre plantas. Para a coleta e quantificação dos esporos, utilizou-se um coletor de esporos tipo “cata-vento”, onde estava posicionado a 1 metro de altura e localizado no centro do experimento. No seu interior foi colocada uma lâmina de microscópio inclinada a 45º untada com vaselina para a coleta de esporos e a mesma era substituída semanalmente. Para a deposição fez-se o uso de duas lâminas de microscópio que seguiam os mesmos procedimentos, mas utilizando dois tijolos como suporte a 5cm do solo, no centro do experimento. No laboratório, para a visualização das lâminas adicionava-se duas gotas de azul de metileno 33% e acima de cada gota uma lamínula. A identificação e quantificação foi feita com o auxílio de um microscópio óptico a 400 (x) vezes de aumento na área de abrangência da lamínula. Para avaliar a severidade, foram escolhidas 25 plantas aleatoriamente por canteiro onde para cada folha se determinava uma porcentagem da doença com o auxílio de uma escala diagramática, sendo repetido esse processo semanalmente. Na quantificação dos esporos de flutuação, os 2 primeiros uredósporos foram observados 21 dias após o plantio. Nas avaliações seguintes, a quantificação dos esporos variou de 0 até chegar à contagem máxima de 78 esporos na décima semana. Já na deposição dos esporos, os primeiros foram encontrados na primeira avaliação contendo 2 uredósporos. Na décima semana de avaliação, foram encontrados 77 uredósporos, sendo este a maior quantidade encontrada em todas as avaliações. Nas próximas avaliações houve uma variância do número, ficando na faixa de entre 0 a 40 uredósporos. Em relação a severidade, a mesma se iniciou 28 dias após a semeadura, sendo progressiva e terminando com 15,3% de severidade na 21ª semana de avaliação. Portanto, como não há muitos estudos para a ferrugem na cultura do alho, este trabalho tem como finalidade de entender como a doença se desenvolve durante todo o ciclo da cultura