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Portrait of the Economist as a Young Man: Raúl Prebischs evolving views on the business cycle and money, 1919-1949

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  • Esteban Pérez Caldentey
  • Matías Vernengo

Abstract

This paper analyzes Raúl Prebischs less familiar contributions to economic theory, related to the business cycle, and heavily informed by the Argentinean experience. His views of the cycle emphasize the common nature of the cycle in the center and the periphery as one unified phenomenon. While his rejection of orthodoxy is less than complete, some elements of what would become a more Keynesian position are developed. In particular, a preoccupation with the management of the balance of payments and the need for capital controls as a macroeconomic management tool, considerably before Keynes and Whites plans led to the Bretton Woods agreement. In the process it is clear that Prebisch developed several ideas that are still relevant to understand cyclical fluctuations in the periphery, and became more concerned with the capacity of taking advantage of cyclical booms to maintain sustained economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Esteban Pérez Caldentey & Matías Vernengo, 2011. "Portrait of the Economist as a Young Man: Raúl Prebischs evolving views on the business cycle and money, 1919-1949," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2011_13, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:uta:papers:2011_13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gurrieri, Adolfo, 2001. "The ideas of young Prebisch," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    2. Pedro Tedde & Francisco Comín & Carles Sudrià Triay & Rafael Anes Álvarez & Pablo Martín Aceña & Carlos Marichal & Leonor Ludlow & Mario Cerutti, 1994. "La formación de los bancos centrales en España y América Latina (Siglos XIX y XX). Vol I: España y México," Estudios de Historia Económica, Banco de España, number 29, November.
    3. Luca Fiorito & Matías Vernengo, 2009. "The Other J.M.: John Maurice Clark and the Keynesian Revolution," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 899-916.
    4. J. S. L. McCombie & A. P. Thirlwall, 1994. "Economic Growth and the Balance-of-Payments Constraint," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-23121-8, June.
    5. John Toye & Richard Toye, 2003. "The Origins and Interpretation of the Prebisch-Singer Thesis," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(3), pages 437-467, Fall.
    6. Helleiner, Eric, 2009. "Central bankers as good neighbours: US money doctors in Latin America during the 1940s," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 5-25, April.
    7. Esteban Pérez-Caldentey & Matías Vernengo, 2007. "A Tale of Two Monetary Reforms: Argentinean Convertibility in Historical Perspective," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2007_01, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    8. Charles P. Kindleberger & Robert Z. Aliber, 2005. "Manias, Panics and Crashes," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-0-230-62804-5, June.
    9. Pérez Caldentey, Esteban & Vernengo, Matías, 2011. "Understanding the business cycle in Latin America: Prebisch's contributions," Estudios y Perspectivas – Sede Subregional de la CEPAL en México 4908, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonas Rama & John Hall, 2021. "Raúl Prebisch and the evolving uses of ‘centre-periphery’ in economic analysis," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 315-332, July.
    2. Esteban Pérez Caldentey & Matías Vernengo, 2016. "Reading Keynes in Buenos Aires: Prebisch and the Dynamics of Capitalism," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(6), pages 1725-1741.
    3. Ilene Grabel, 2015. "The rebranding of capital controls in an era of productive incoherence," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 7-43, February.
    4. Kevin Gallagher, 2012. "The Myth of Financial Protectionism: The New (and old) Economics of Capital Controls," Working Papers wp278, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business Cycle; Macroeconomic Policy; History of Economic Thought JEL Codes: B31; E32; E65;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology

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