IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/clr/wugarc/y2013v39i4p485.html

A Brief Introduction to Post Keynesian Macroeconomics

Author

Listed:
  • J. E. King

Abstract

I begin by setting out the core of Post Keynesian macroeconomics, and then distinguish three schools within Post Keynesian theory: the fundamentalist Keynesian approach taken by Paul Davidson, the Kaleckian variant represented by Eckhard Hein, and Hyman Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis. I continue by identifying what Post Keynesian macroeconomics is not, and outlining some very substantial criticisms of both "Old Keynesian" and "New Keynesian" theory. After an historical sketch of the development of Post Keynesian theory in Cambridge (UK) and the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, I summarise the contributions of two eminent Austrian theorists, Josef Steindl and Kurt Rothschild. I then discuss the distinctive Post Keynesian position on questions of macroeconomic policy, offer an explanation of the Global Financial Crisis that began in 2007 and suggest some policy measures that might make similar crises less likely in the future. I conclude by discussing the relationship between Post Keynesianism and three other schools of heterodox economic theory: Marxism, institutionalism and behavioural economics.

Suggested Citation

  • J. E. King, 2013. "A Brief Introduction to Post Keynesian Macroeconomics," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 39(4), pages 485-508.
    • Handle: RePEc:clr:wugarc:y:2013v:39i:4p:485
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/pdf/AC08890876_2013_004/wug_2013_39_4_0485.pdf
    File Function: PDF-file of article
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henry C. Wallich & Sidney Weintraub, 1971. "A Tax-Based Incomes Policy," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Robinson, Joan, 1972. "The Second Crisis of Economic Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 1-10, May.
    3. J.E. King, 2011. "Four Theses on the Global Financial Crisis," Chapters, in: Steven Kates (ed.), The Global Financial Crisis, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Eichner, Alfred S & Kregel, J A, 1975. "An Essay on Post-Keynesian Theory: A New Paradigm in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 1293-1314, December.
    5. J. E. King, 2012. "The Microfoundations Delusion," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14065, June.
    6. George A. Akerlof, 2009. "How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why It Matters," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1175-1175.
    7. J.E. King, 2010. "Reflections on the Global Financial Crisis," Chapters, in: Steven Kates (ed.), Macroeconomic Theory and its Failings, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931, June.
    9. Jakob Kapeller & Bernhard Schütz, 2014. "Debt, boom, bust: a theory of Minsky-Veblen cycles," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 781-814.
    10. Paul Davidson, 1978. "Money and the Real World," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-15865-2, October.
    11. Leanne Ussher, 2009. "Global Imbalances and the Key Currency Regime: The Case for a Commodity Reserve Currency," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 403-421.
    12. Paul De Grauwe, 2012. "Lectures on Behavioral Macroeconomics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 9891, December.
    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. Heider Felix, 2020. "Die postkeynesianische Ökonomik in der Finanzethik des katholischen Sozialethikers Bernhard Emunds – Diskussion aus einer angebotsorientierten Perspektive," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Bruno Damásio & Diogo Martins, 2017. "Do Labour Market Reforms Pay Off? Unemployment and Capital Accumulation in Portugal," Working Papers Department of Economics 2017/01, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    3. repec:clr:wugarc:y:2016v:42i:03p:405 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Vladimir Mihajlović & Gordana Marjanović, 2019. "Post-Kejnzijanska Kritika Novog Konsenzusa U Makroekonomiji I Pouke Za Tranzicione Privrede (Post-Keynesian Criticism Of The New Consensus Macroeconomics And Lessons For Transitional Economies)," Ekonomske ideje i praksa, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, issue 34, pages 21-32, September.
    5. Ewald Walterskirchen, 2016. "Neukeynesianismus und Postkeynesianismus: Was für ein Unterschied!," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 42(3), pages 405-430.
    6. António Afonso & André Albuquerque, 2018. "Sovereign Credit Rating Mismatches," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 46, pages 49-70, July.

    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. repec:clr:wugarc:y:2013:v:39i:4p:485 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Giuseppe Fontana & Bill Gerrard, 2006. "The future of Post Keynesian economics," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 59(236), pages 49-80.
    3. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    4. Engelbert Stockhammer & Rafael Wildauer, 2016. "Debt-driven growth? Wealth, distribution and demand in OECD countries," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(6), pages 1609-1634.
    5. John E. King, 2013. "Should post-Keynesians make a behavioural turn?," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 231-242.
    6. Tiziana Assenza & Te Bao & Cars Hommes & Domenico Massaro, 2014. "Experiments on Expectations in Macroeconomics and Finance," Research in Experimental Economics, in: Experiments in Macroeconomics, volume 17, pages 11-70, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    7. Davide Bazzana, 2024. "Animal spirits, bankruptcies, and monetary policy effectiveness in a hybrid macroeconomic agent-based financial accelerator model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 29-61, January.
    8. F. Cavalli & A. Naimzada & M. Pireddu, 2017. "An evolutive financial market model with animal spirits: imitation and endogenous beliefs," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 1007-1040, November.
    9. Tae-Hee Jo, 2015. "Financing Investment under Fundamental Uncertainty and Instability: A Heterodox Microeconomic View," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 9(1), pages 33-54, June.
    10. De Grauwe, Paul & Ji, Yuemei, 2017. "Structural Reforms and Monetary Policies in a Behavioural Macroeconomic Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 12336, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Marc Lavoie, 2020. "Was Hyman Minsky a post-Keynesian economist?," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 85-101, May.
    12. Kakarot-Handtke, Egmont, 2010. "Axiomatic Basics of e-Economics," MPRA Paper 24331, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Ernest Aigner & Florentin Gloetzl & Matthias Aistleitner & Jakob Kapeller, 2018. "The focus of academic economics: before and after the crisis," ICAE Working Papers 75, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    14. Anna M. Carabelli & Mario A. Cedrini, 2014. "Keynes's General Theory , Treatise on Money and Tract on Monetary Reform : different theories, same methodological approach?," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 1060-1084, December.
    15. Olivier Mesly & David W. Shanafelt & Nicolas Huck & François‐Éric Racicot, 2020. "From wheel of fortune to wheel of misfortune: Financial crises, cycles, and consumer predation," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1195-1212, December.
    16. Angel Asensio & Sébastien Charles & Edwin Le Héron & Dany Lang, 2011. "Recent developments in Post-Keynesian modeling [Los desarrollos recientes de la macroeconomía post-keynesiana]," Post-Print halshs-00664867, HAL.
    17. Cristina-Elena Bejenaru & Adam Altăr-Samuel & Alexandra Cheptiș & Alin-Ioan Vid, 2025. "Behavioral Macroeconomics—A Basis for Developing Sustainable Economic Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    18. Gerasimos T. Soldatos & Erotokritos Varelas, 2015. "A first formal approach to animal spirits beyond uncertainty," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 4(2), pages 104-117, December.
    19. Paul De Grauwe & Yuemei Ji, 2019. "Inflation Targets and the Zero Lower Bound in a Behavioural Macroeconomic Model," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 262-299, April.
    20. Paul Grauwe & Yuemei Ji, 2018. "Behavioural Economics is Useful Also in Macroeconomics: The Role of Animal Spirits," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(2), pages 203-216, June.
    21. Alex Millmow, 2003. "Joan Robinson's disillusion with economics," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 561-574.

    More about this item

    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:clr:wugarc:y:2013v:39i:4p:485. 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: Sepp Zuckerstaetter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/awakwat.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.