IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/fubsbe/20032.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Against rigid rules: Keynes's economic theory

Author

Listed:
  • Muchlinski, Elke

Abstract

This paper provides textual evidence of Keynes's position on monetary policy and shaping international monetary relations. One result of my contribution is that the famous dichotomy rules versus discretion is of no relevance to his economic theory, because he used the term rules not in the meaning of a formal brilliantly designed notion.He definitely made a distinction between non-rigidly-fixed-rules and discretion. I give an explanation why his economic theory is not compatible with principles of constructivism, empiricism and ontological realism by referring to a key term of his economic writings, i.e., discretionary decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Muchlinski, Elke, 2003. "Against rigid rules: Keynes's economic theory," Discussion Papers 2003/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:20032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/49932/1/668824190.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moggridge, D E, 1992. "The," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 207-209, Summer.
    2. Donald Moggridge, 2002. "'Rescuing Keynes from the economists'?: the Skidelsky trilogy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 111-123.
    3. Davis,John B., 2008. "Keynes's Philosophical Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521065511.
    4. Blinder, Alan S, 1987. "Keynes, Lucas, and Scientific Progress," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 130-136, May.
    5. Henry C. Simons, 1936. "Rules versus Authorities in Monetary Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44, pages 1-1.
    6. Moggridge, Donald E & Howson, Susan, 1974. "Keynes on Monetary Policy, 1910-1946," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 226-247, July.
    7. Baert, Patrick, 1996. "Realist Philosophy of the Social Sciences and Economics: A Critique," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 513-522, September.
    8. Robert Dimand, 1988. "The Origins of the Keynesian Revolution," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 139.
    9. King, Mervyn, 1997. "Changes in UK monetary policy: Rules and discretion in practice," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 81-97, June.
    10. Alan P. Kirman, 1992. "Whom or What Does the Representative Individual Represent?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 117-136, Spring.
    11. Bateman, Bradley W, 1991. "Das Maynard Keynes Problem: Review Article," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 101-111, March.
    12. McKinnon, Ronald I, 1993. "The Rules of the Game: International Money in Historical Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 1-44, March.
    13. Athol Fitzgibbons, 1998. "Against Keynes' Recantation," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 30(1), pages 147-166.
    14. Elke Muchlinski, 1998. "The Philosophy of John Maynard Keynes (A Reconsideration)," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 30(1), pages 227-253.
    15. Tobin, James, 1983. "Monetary Policy: Rules, Targets, and Shocks," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 15(4), pages 506-518, November.
    16. Gilles Dostaler, 1995. "Keynes et Bretton Woods," Cahiers de recherche du Département des sciences économiques, UQAM 9502, Université du Québec à Montréal, Département des sciences économiques.
    17. Anonymous, 1965. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 1052-1056, October.
    18. Elke Muchlinski, 2005. "The Lucas Critique and Keynes Response.Considering the History of Macroeconomics," Macroeconomics 0503019, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Warren Samuels, 1996. "Postmodernism and economics: a middlebrow view," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 113-120.
    20. Craig Freedman, 1995. "Animal spirits in his soup: a look at the methodology and rhetoric of The General Theory," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 79-104.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elke Muchlinski, 2012. "Keynes’s Economic Theory – Judgement under Uncertainty," Chapters, in: Thomas Cate (ed.), Keynes’s General Theory, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Elke Muchlinski, 2005. "The Lucas Critique and Keynes Response.Considering the History of Macroeconomics," Macroeconomics 0503019, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muchlinski, Elke, 2004. "Kontroversen in der internationalen Währungspolitik: Retrospektive zu Keynes-White-Boughton & IMF," Discussion Papers 2004/1, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    2. Muchlinski, Elke, 2003. "Épistémologie et probabilité chez Keynes," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 79(1), pages 57-70, Mars-Juin.
    3. Muchlinski, Elke, 2011. "Die Rezeption der John Maynard Keynes Manuskripte von 1904 bis 1911. Anregungen für die deutschsprachige Diskussion," Discussion Papers 2011/7, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    4. Elke Muchlinski, 1998. "The Philosophy of John Maynard Keynes (A Reconsideration)," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 30(1), pages 227-253.
    5. Christophe Lavialle, 2001. "L'épistémologie de Keynes et "l'hypothèse Wittgenstein" : La cohérence logique de la Théorie Générale de l'emploi, de l'intérêt et de la monnaie," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 38(1), pages 25-64.
    6. Singleton,John, 2010. "Central Banking in the Twentieth Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899093.
    7. Teupe, Sebastian, 2020. "Keynes, Inflation, and the Public Debt: "How to Pay for the War" as a Policy Prescription for Financial Repression?," Working Papers 16, German Research Foundation's Priority Programme 1859 "Experience and Expectation. Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour", Humboldt University Berlin.
    8. Paul Downward, "undated". "Risk, Uncertainty and Inference in Post Keynesian Economics:A Realist Commentary," Working Papers 98-8, Staffordshire University, Business School.
    9. Mervyn Allister King, 1993. "Debt Deflation: Theory and Evidence," FMG Discussion Papers dp175, Financial Markets Group.
    10. Roger E. Backhouse & Bradley W. Bateman, 2009. "Keynes and Capitalism," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 41(4), pages 645-671, Winter.
    11. Michael Lainé, 2012. "Keynes on method: is economics a moral science?," Chapters, in: Jesper Jespersen & Mogens Ove Madsen (ed.), Keynes’s General Theory for Today, chapter 4, pages 60-78, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Spahn Peter, 2009. "The New Keynesian Microfoundation of Macroeconomics," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 60(3), pages 181-203, December.
    13. Aurélien Goutsmedt & Erich Pinzon-Fuchs & Matthieu Renault & Francesco Sergi, 2015. "Criticizing the Lucas Critique: Macroeconometricians' Response to Robert Lucas," Post-Print halshs-01179114, HAL.
    14. Michael D. Bordo & Anna J. Schwartz, 1994. "The Specie Standard as a Contingent Rule: Some Evidence for Core and Peripheral Countries, 1880-1990," NBER Working Papers 4860, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Rod Cross, 2014. "Unemployment: natural rate epicycles or hysteresis?," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(2), pages 136-148, September.
    16. Jean-Bernard Chatelain & Kirsten Ralf, 2020. "How macroeconomists lost control of stabilization policy: towards dark ages," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 938-982, November.
    17. Klausinger, Hansjörg, 1993. "Die Klassische Ökonomie und die Keynessche Alternative. Revision eines Mythos?," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 25, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    18. Szakolczai, György, 2017. "Keynes és White szerepe a Nemzetközi Valutaalap létrehozásában és a Bretton Woods-i értekezlet [The role of Keynes and White in founding the International Monetary Fund and at the Bretton Woods con," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 74-96.
    19. Anna Carabelli & Nicolo De Vecchi, 2001. "Hayek and Keynes: From a common critique of economic method to different theories of expectations," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 269-285.
    20. Athol Fitzgibbons, 1998. "Against Keynes' Recantation," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 30(1), pages 147-166.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    History of economic thought since 1925; Methodology; Central Banking; Inernational monetary arrangements and instititions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:20032. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwfubde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.