This paper considers some methodological aspects of Joan Robinson's contribution to post-Keynesian growth theory. Joan Robinson's criticisms of equilibrium analysis, of the conflation of logical and historical time and of the uses (and misuses) of mathematical formalisation are scathing. But...

Spanish Abstract: En las últimas décadas ha aumentado la bibliografía sobre la relación entre el crecimiento económico y su impacto social. Los sucesivos fracasos en la lucha contra la pobreza han dado lugar a nuevas estrategias para combatirla, como el “crecimiento pro-pobre.” Este...

Regarding economic freedom, research shows that although it has its negative effects, especially in a shorter term, e.g., the phase of increasing inequality, overall trends are indicative that countries with higher levels of economic freedom have not only higher gross domestic product per capita...

What are the causes of prosperity? In addition to saving, capital accumulation, and good institutions, Adam Smith explains opulence through vanity and luck, two variables we tend to forget today. For Smith, wealth comes from our propensity to better our condition, combined with freedom and the...

China’s rise drives a growing impact of China on economics. So far, this mainly works via the force of example, but there is also an emerging role of Chinese thinking in economics. This paper raises the question how far Chinese perspectives can affect certain foundational principles in...

This paper revisits the work of Richard Cantillon and Francois Quesnay in order to conceptualise the dynamics between rural and urban areas in an economy. Concepts of social surplus and economy as a circular flow are presented in order to highlight the interrelationship between the growth...

Nicolas Dutot (1684–1741) is an important figure for the history of economic thought, as a pioneer in monetary theory and price statistics, and for economic history as a chronicler of John Law’s System. Yet until recently very little about him was known, some of it incorrect. I present...

Modern growth theory derives mostly from Robert Solow's “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth” (1956). Solow's own interpretation locates the origins of his “Contribution” in his view that the growth model of Roy Harrod implied a tendency toward progressive collapse of the...

Turner's book presents a new approach to monetary theory and policy. What's novel in Turner's book is not the proposition that debt can be dangerous, but that debt is what modern financial systems naturally create; and always to excess. Debt as an economic evil is an old characterization....

The origins of “capital fundamentalism” – the notion that physical capital accumulation is the primary determinant of economic growth – have been often ascribed to Harrod's and Domar's proposition that the rate of growth is the product of the saving rate and of the output-capital ratio....