Interpreting Classical Economics Studies in Long-Period Analysis

First Published in 2007. This book is the third volume of previously published essays from Heinz D. Kurz and Neri Salvadori, following Understanding Classical Economics (1998) and Classical Economics and Modern Theory (2003), both published by Routledge. This new collection can be read in isolation but perhaps more fruitfully in conjunction with the previous texts, providing modern interpretations of the classical economists and comparing their analyses with that of contemporary mainstream economics. The essays in the new volume are split between three parts, the first section dealing with classical economics and modern theory focusing specifically on the differences in the analytical structure and content of the theory of value and distribution of Ricardo, on the one hand, and Say and Walras, on the other. The second part is devoted to Piero Sraffa?s contribution, drawing from his hitherto unpublished papers. The final part assesses linear theory of production, concentrating on comparative studies of the contributions of von Neumann, Arrow-Debreu, Georgescu-Roegen and Sraffa. This new volume will be of interest to economic theorists and methodologists in Europe, Asia and America and particularly academics and researchers engaged with theories of production, value, distribution, economic growth and the history of economic thought.

Acknowledgements, 1. Interpreting classical economics: studies in long-period analysis – An introduction, PART I: Classical economics and modern theory, 2. Say and Ricardo on value and distribution, 3. Ricardo on agricultural improvements: A note, 4. One theory or two? Walras’s critique of Ricardo, 5. Is Ricardian extensive rent a Nash equilibrium?, PART II: Sraffa’s contributions, 6. Keynes and Sraffa’s ‘Difficulties with J. H. Hollander’: A note on the history of the RES edition of The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, 7. “Man from the Moon”: On Sraffa’s objectivism, 8. The agents of production are the commodities themselves: On the classical theory of production, distribution and value, 9. On the collaboration between Sraffa and Besicovitch: The cases of fixed capital and non-basics in joint production, PART III: Linear theory of production: An assessment, 10. Von Neumann, the classical economists and Arrow–Debreu: Some notes, 11. Fund–flow versus flow–flow in production theory: Reflections on Georgescu-Roegen’s contribution, 12. Endogenous growth in a multi-sector economy, Index

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Heinz D. Kurz is Professor of Economics at the University of Graz, Austria. Neri Salvadori is Professor of Economics at the University of Pisa, Italy.