A neo-Kaldorian approach to structural economic dynamics

Although the structural economic dynamic approach provides a simultaneous consideration of demand and supply sides of economic growth, it does not fully take into account the possible role played by demand in the generation of technical progress. From a neo-Kaldorian perspective, this paper seeks to establish the concepts of demand and productivity regimes in an open version of the pure labour Pasinettian model. In order to derive the demand regime, a disaggregated version of the static Harrod foreign multiplier is derived, while the productivity regime is built in terms of disaggregated Kaldor–Verdoorn laws. The upshot is a multi-sectoral growth model of structural change and cumulative causation, in which an open version of the Pasinettian model to foreign trade may be obtained as a particular case. Furthermore, we show that the evolution of demand patterns, while being affected by differential rates of productivity growth in different sectors of the economy, also play an important role in establishing the pace of technical progress

A multi-sectoral approach to the Harrod foreign trade multiplier

With this inquiry, we seek to develop a multi-sectoral version of the static Harrod foreign trade multiplier, by showing that it can be derived from an extended version of the Pasinettian model of structural change and international trade. This new version highlights the connections between the balance-of-payments and levels of employment and production. It is also shown that from this disaggregated version of the Harrod foreign multiplier we can derive an aggregate version of the multiplier. By following this approach we go a step further in establishing the connections between the Structural Economic Dynamic and Balance-of-Payments Constrained Growth approaches

Marx, Say’s Law and Commodity Money

Under Marx’s critique of Say’s Law, as originally devised by Say and James Mill, money hoarding leads to a shortfall in aggregate demand. This paper responds to a Post Keynesian argument that hoarding does not restrict aggregate demand since for Marx money consists of a produced commodity, and hoarding is just one form of commodity demand. Drawing on Marx’s monetary writings, a new monetary equilibrium is suggested in which produced gold is used to replace wear and tear in circulation. An alternative critique of Say’s Law is thus proposed as a contribution to understanding the complexity of Marx’s monetary foundations

Thirlwall's Law and uneven development under Global Value Chains: a multi-country input-output approach

A notable macroeconomic explanation of uneven development, with particular relevance to developing countries, has been the problem of balance of payments constraints, as captured by Thirlwall’s Law: where relative growth rates are explained by differences between income elasticities for exports and imports. Araujo and Lima have formulated a one-country multisectoral disaggregation of this hypothesis using a vertically integrated input–output framework, which is extended here in two main ways. First, international trade in intermediate inputs—the basis for Global Value Chains—is introduced; second, the model is extended to multiple countries. The main outcome of the paper is the development of a new multisectoral method for modelling balance of payments constraints: a Multi-Country Sectoral Thirlwall Law (MCSTL) under which key sector relationships are nested in intercountry trading relationships that encompass both intermediate and final goods. The identification of this input–output structure is developed in analytical stages, moving from a one-country vertically integrated system, to two, three and finally multi-country systems. In addition to its theoretical contribution to understanding the industrial structure of trade, an implication of this multi-country/multi-sector approach is that it can also be tested in future empirical work using the recently available World Input–Output Database of national tables

Marx's reproduction schemes and the Keynesian multiplier: a reply to Sardoni

In a recent contribution to this journal, C. Sardoni takes issue with the identification by Trigg, in a 2006 publication, of a role for the Keynesian investment multiplier in Marx's schemes of reproduction. Indirectly, Sardoni also expresses his disagreement with Hartwig (by attributing one of his statements to Trigg). We appreciate the opportunity to defend our view against Sardoni's critique. This reply shows that a bridging point between Marx and Keynes can be established without recourse to microfoundations. As suggested by both Trigg, in 2006, and Hartwig, in 2004, the well known Harrod-Domar model of economic growth provides an interpretation of Marx's reproduction schemes that has the Keynesian multiplier as a constituent element. This note will further explore the assumptions underlying the interface between Marx and Keynes, in response to the challenging questions raised in Sardoni's contributio

Reconstructing Marx’s Theory of Credit and Payment Crises under Simple Circulation

There is general agreement amongst scholars of Marx that his monetary theory is incomplete, especially in his most detailed writings on credit in the third volume of Capital. Moreover, in these unfinished notes Marx takes sides with the banking school approach, notable for its opacity compared to the clear axioms of its currency school counterpart. A reconstruction is proposed based on Marx’s step-by-step method, commencing with a critique of Say’s Law under simple commodity circulation, these foundations formalised here using the model of pure labour developed by Pasinetti (1993). Piecing together the fragments, and filling in some of the gaps in Marx’s writings on money, the analysis builds from commodity money and private debt contracts, to the modelling of pure credit and pure banking systems. Adapting the Pasinetti model of a real economy, its endogenous money requirements provide an alternative to the exogenous money approach of the currency school: a streamlined analytical core to the banking school approach, as interpreted by Marx. In addition, the structure of payment crises — as an extension of Marx’s possibility theory of crises — is examined with money as a means of payment required to settle debts between producers and the banking system

Valuing the environmental impacts of open cast coalmining: the case of the Trent Valley in North Staffordshire

Opencast coal-mining is often associated with extensive environmental costs, which are not usually accounted for in financial appraisals of opencast projects. We examine the case of a proposal for an opencast mine in the Trent Valley, part of the North Staffordshire coalfield of the United Kingdom. We report the results of a survey oflocal estate agents, which suggests that, as measured by the impact upon local house prices, the monetary environmental costs could be sufficient to reduce substantially the economic viability of the proposal. Moreover, we conclude that opencast coal in the Trent Valley is almost certainly more costly to produce than alternative deep mined coal

Christianity as Public Religion::A Justification for using a Christian Sociological Approach for Studying the Social Scientific Aspects of Sport

The vast majority of social scientific studies of sport have been secular in nature and/or have tended to ignore the importance of studying the religious aspects of sport. In light of this, Shilling and Mellor (2014) have sought to encourage sociologists of sport not to divorce the ‘religious’ and the ‘sacred’ from their studies. In response to this call, the goal of the current essay is to explore how the conception of Christianity as ‘public religion’ can be utilised to help justify the use of a Christian sociological approach for studying the social scientific aspects of sport. After making a case for Christianity as public religion, we conclude that many of the sociological issues inherent in modern sport are an indirect result of its increasing secularisation and argue that this justifies the need for a Christian sociological approach. We encourage researchers to use the Bible, the tools of Christian theology and sociological concepts together, so to inform analyses of modern sport from a Christian perspective