Gegenwärtigen Probleme der Theorie des volkswirtschaftlichen Wohlstands

Die Veröffentlichung des Aufsatzes von Prof.Tinbergen im Fachjournal des Zentralen Instituts für Wirtschaftsmathematik der Akademie der Wissenschaften der UdSSR zeigt, in welchem Bereich und auf welchem Niveau Sozialwissenschaftler aus Ost- und Westeuropa heute zusammenarbeiten können. Dieser Bereich gemeinsamen Interesses ist durch die Frage nach der optimalen Organisation der Gesellschaft charakterisiert. Prof.Tinbergen faßt die Bedürfnisbefriedigung als allgemeinen Inhalt der gesellschaftlichen Zielfunktion auf, geht jedoch insofern über die traditionelle Interpretation hinaus, als die gesellschaftlichen Institutionen nicht Daten, sondern Variable der Optimierungsaufgabe sind. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit verdienen die Einbeziehung der Arbeitsanstrengung in die Nutzenfunktion und die Behandlung der Häufigkeitsverteilung von Arbeitsqualitäten im Rahmen der Produktionsfunktion; abschließend verweist der Autor auf die Notwendigkeit empirischer Forschung zur Aufstellung einer volkswirtschaftlichen Bildungsfunktion. The publication of the article by ProfessorTinbergen in the Journal of the Central Institute for Mathematical Economics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR indicates both the field and the level on which social scientists from eastern and western Europe can cooperate today. The field of joint interest is characterized by the search for an optimal organization of society. According to ProfessorTinbergen the satisfaction of wants is the general content of the social optimum; yet, he goes beyond traditional interpretation in that he does not consider social institutions to be data but variables of the optimization problem. Furthermore, the inclusion of productive effort into the utility function and the treatment of the frequency distribution of labour qualities in the framework of the production function are of special interest; in conclusion, the author points to the necessity of empirical research for the development of a social education function. In Polish: Sovremennye Problemy Teorii Naradnochzjajstvennogo Blagosostojanija, in: Ekonomika i Matematicheski Metody, Vol. 3, No.3, 1967, pp. 348-35

Het ‘Getal Twee’ is van Keynes

(commentaar op J.J.M. Theeuwes ‘Van Dingen die Stabiel Zijn’

Does Consumption Lag Behind Incomes?

The fact that consumption outlay of individuals as well as of groups of individuals depends on their income is well known. Although this statement will hardly be doubted, it may be tested statistically from family budget statistics, as has been done by various investigators. These statistics can show only that consumption outlay by different people, having different incomes at the same moment, depends on income. Consumption outlay by the same family in different years, showing varying income, will not necessarily depend on income in the same way that is shown-by family budget statistics

The Influence of Productivity on Economic Welfare

Also published in: ‘Jan Tinbergen Selected Papers’, edited by L.H. Klaassen, L.M. Koyck and H.J. Witteveen, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1959, pp. 222-242. Also: Reprint No. 17, Centraal Planbureau, The Hague, 1952.It is a well-known old thesis that an increase in labour productivity leads to an increase in economic " welfare." Assuming for a while that the meaning of these two concepts is clear, we may say that the statement is correct for a Robinson Crusoe economy as we know it from our books. If Crusoe can get more products for the same effort, then probably he will shorten somewhat his working-day and get more products, and by doing so feel happier. The statement seems guaranteed for an economy : (i)without foreign trade, (ii) without working-hours regulations, (iii) without problems of capital scarcity and (iv) without monetary complications

Economen en Veiligheid

In ESB van 15 augustus 1990 uit collega W. Brand bedenkingen tegen de opzet van de vereniging Economen voor Vrede. Hij verdenkt de vereniging van vooropgestelde gevoelens jegens het militaire apparaat in plaats van een wetenschappeiijke houding van analyse van de problemen van veiligheid. Dit laatste echter is juist wat de vereniging, blijkens artikel 3 van haar statuten, nastreeft. De veiligheid die door Brand terecht als de centrale doelstelling wordt genoemd, wordt in artikel 3 duidelijk vermeld. Brand's toevoeging dat het niet om vrede, maar om veiligheid gaat doet wat vreemd aan

Regeren is Vooruitzien

Het ontwikkelingsproces is het afgelopen jaar niet versneld, ondanks het eigen belang dat westerse landen hebben bij het geven van meer ontwikkelingshulp

How to Increase the Efficiency of Econometric Meetings

Although several most important contributions were made by the participants at our Cambridge meeting and the material organization ran most smoothly, I must confess that I was not satisfied, which may be partly due to personal reasons. Since, however, the few observations that I have to make apply also to most of our previous European meetings, I hope they may be of some use to the organizers of our future meetings. Indeed I think that the efficiency of our meetings is considerably less satisfactory than it could be. I have tried to analyse the reasons why this is so

The Optimal Economic Order: the simplest model

In the last five years humanity has become faced with the problem of the optimal socioeconomic order more clearly than ever. After the confrontation of capitalism and socialism, which was the core of the Marxist thesis, the fact transpired that capitalism was not the optimal order. It was eliminated in two different ways. In Western economies capitalism was reformed stepwise by pulling its sharpest teeth, while maintaining the stimulating forces in the markets. As to communist economies - the Soviet Union changed capitalism via the 1917 October revolution and China followed. In 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev's view that the communist system did not work was accepted by the Soviet Union communist party congress. Now, in 1992, the world is discussing, more urgently than ever, what the best ('optimal') socio-economic order is; how much reintroduction of capitalism is necessary to attain the best order? This essay discusses the simplest possible model that can contribute to the discussion. The advantage of building the simplest possible model is twofold. Firstly, such a model can state the nature or essence of an optimal order. Secondly, it can indicate the order of magnitude of the main characteristic of an optimal order. The main characteristic - the question that separated socialists from other politicians - is the redistribution of income. Within a single nation, redistribution is achieved by taxes and social security contributions. In the world economy, redistribution is accomplished by development assistance and trade policy. In this essay the language used is that of the industrial economy, in which the two groups considered are labour and capital. The model can be translated into another in which the two groups are the developed and underdeveloped countries. It may even be translated into a security model of two powers, in which redistribution is obtained by security assistance (see J. Tinbergen, World Security and Equity, Aldershot, 1990), or a colonial system. In the last version not the common welfare will be maximized, but the welfare of the colonial powers, which leads to negative redistribution (the exploitation of the colonies)

L’Utilisation des Equations Fonctionnelles et des Nombres Complexes dans les Recherches Economiques

Les considérations suivantes se rapportent à la théorie des oscillations économiques. Comme résultat idéal de toutes les recherches à ce sujet, on peut,, il me semble, indiquer la découverte des causes et du mécanisme du mouvement cyclique général des affaires. Au point de vue quantitatif, on est encore loin d'avoir satisfait à cette exigence idéale. Un accord satisfaisant entre théorie et observation statistique n'existe que dans certains cas très simples. Pour les cas plus compliqués, il n'y a guère de t,héorie quantitative suffisamment élaborée, et les corrélations qu'on a trouvées expérimentalement manquent souvent d'une base logique assez fondée. Il y a donc ici un champ très étendu pour la Société d'ficonométrie. J'espère donner ici une petite contribution aux recherches théoriques dans ce champ. Cette contribution n'a cependant qu'un caractère préparatoire