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9 - Growth and Cycles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2023

Peter Skott
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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Summary

The neoclassical aggregate production is ubiquitous in the macroeconomic literature, despite the theoretical weaknesses exposed by the Cambridge capital controversy. This chapter gives an overview of the controversy and subsequent attempts to provide an empirical justification for the aggregate production function. These attempts are unconvincing, and the function is not needed to explain the reconciliation of the natural and warranted growth rates in mature economies. Kaldor's neo-Keynesian models and an older Marxian tradition explained this outcome by endogenizing the distribution of income and assuming that the saving rate is increasing in the profit share. But capitalist economies contain both stabilizing and destabilizing forces. Depending on the balance of these forces, the result may be endogenous cycles, as in Goodwin’s formalization of Marx’s general law of accumulation. This model has weaknesses, but the presence of endogenous cycles is in line with empirical studies which find evidence of local instability.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Growth and Cycles
  • Peter Skott, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Book: Structuralist and Behavioral Macroeconomics
  • Online publication: 10 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367349.010
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  • Growth and Cycles
  • Peter Skott, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Book: Structuralist and Behavioral Macroeconomics
  • Online publication: 10 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367349.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Growth and Cycles
  • Peter Skott, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Book: Structuralist and Behavioral Macroeconomics
  • Online publication: 10 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367349.010
Available formats
×