Journal of Economic Perspectives
ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)
Retrospectives: Whatever Happened to the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies?
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 17,
no. 1, Winter 2003
(pp. 199–214)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We argue that the Cambridge capital theory controversies of the 1950s to 1970s were the latest in a series of still-unresolved controversies over three deep issues: explaining and justifying the return to capital; Joan Robinson's complaint that, due to path dependence, equilibrium is not an outcome of an economic process and therefore an inadequate tool for analyzing accumulation and growth; and the role of ideology and vision in fuelling controversy when results of simple models are not robust. We predict these important and relevant issues, latent in endogenous growth and real business cycle theories, will erupt in future controversy.Citation
Cohen, Avi, J., and G. C. Harcourt. 2003. "Retrospectives: Whatever Happened to the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies? ." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17 (1): 199–214. DOI: 10.1257/089533003321165010JEL Classification
- B22 History of Economic Thought: Macroeconomics
- E23 Macroeconomics: Production
- D24 Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
- E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital
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