The Legacy of Luigi Pasinetti to Economic Analysis: A Critical Assessment

The paper comments on the key role of structural interdependencies among productive sectors in Pasinetti’s economic theory, stressing how the variations in the composition of macro-aggregates, such as the income shares earned by different social groups, determine macroeconomic dynamics, growth, and development. Furthermore, it stresses how this stage of pure theory enables the identification of the conditions under which full employment and utilization of productive capacity can be guaranteed over time. The paper also highlights Pasinetti’s fundamental contribution to the characterization of the methodological features of the Classical-Keynesian School in contrast to the mainstream paradigm, providing a critical assessment of such features. Finally, it emphasizes the “strong, deeply felt social concern†that pervades Pasinetti’s economic analysis, which has been systematically imbued with a deep sense of the social implications of economic theory on civil society.