“[Don’t] let them have their leets”! Joan Robinson and her legacy for heterodox economics

The paper considers three aspects of Joan Robinson’s writings all of which have a link to concern for the treatment of time and history in economic analysis. The first aspect is Robinson’s view of the significance of the capital-theoretic critique of orthodoxy, a critique in which she played a significant role. The second aspect relates to her concerns about the use of equilibrium in economic analysis and particularly the concept of long-period equilibrium. The third aspect is Robinson’s view of the significance of Sraffa’s Production of Commodities, and particularly as part of the positive side of the critique of orthodoxy; in particular, its potential role in an alternative non-marginalist approach. As such, the discussion inevitably to turns to the tension between Robinson’s views and those of the Sraffian camp, noting however that the possibility of some common ground remains open. stabilization policy tool by influencing the velocity.