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Socratic Economics IX: National Accounts | 70 comments (70 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Excellent question. (none / 1)
Maybe there isn't a later book and Keynes is like Galileo waiting for his Newton...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 05:34:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Excellent question. (none / 1)
There are heaps of later books ... but its been a while since I read them, and I'll have to refresh my memory to sort out which ones are useful in their own right, and which ones are useful in parts, as long as you understand that part of the argument is nonsense.

And then there is the assumed audience ... some assume that the reader is already well versed in a post-General Theory approach, like Post Keynesian Economics.

JK Galbraith is always good ... so many of his books are useful for one or another question that its hard to narrow him down. For a later Post Keynesian economist of substantial influence, Paul Davidson's Economics for a Civilized Society gives a fairly readable introduction to his approach ...

... its also useful for punching through a lot of the Economist/FT type framing which sometimes show their "broad mindedness" by taking into account critiques from "house dissident" schools like New Keynesian economics ... Paul Davidson is a bit of a one-trick pony on intrinsic uncertainty, but its a critical point that traditional marginalist economics is incapable of addressing effectively.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 10:08:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Excellent question. (4.00 / 2)
So, what about Veblen, Galbraith, Davidson and Jacobs? That should be good for at least a semester...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 10:33:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Excellent question. (none / 1)
That's a good mix.

For Veblen, Theory of Business Enterprise, although Veblen is always to be read a chapter at a time, make notes of what you think he was saying, and then reread the chapter, to find the points where he was in fact saying something else. He's the opposite of an "accessible" writer.

For Galbraith, A Short History of Financial Euphoria would seem to be especially relevant. And of course, Paul Krugman considers The New Industrial State to "not be real economic theory", which is a strong recommendation in its own right.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 01:08:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Excellent question. (none / 1)
Well, I read Galbraith's The Great Crash 1929 earlier this year, so maybe The New Industrial State would have lesser overlap than A Short History of Financial Euphoria.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 02:55:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Excellent question. (4.00 / 2)
The New Industrial State is a tremendous complement to the General Theory, because the General Theory is about those aspects of a monetary production economy for which you can draw a general theory ... rather than, as some people misread it, a "theory about everything in general".

The New Industrial State is a "special theory", about the post WWII corporate-dominated monetary economy of the United States. And being a special theory, it can go further into its particular topic area than a general theory can.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Jun 3rd, 2008 at 03:01:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Socratic Economics IX: National Accounts | 70 comments (70 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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