Classical Economics Today. Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia
Edited by Marcella Corsi, Jan Kregel and Carlo D’Ippoliti
ISBN 9781783087501
January 2018 | 274 Pages
“Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia” is a collection of essays that investigates and applies the method and principles of Classical political economy to current issues of economic theory and policy.
The contributors to the volume, like all classical economists in general, regard history as a useful tool of analysis rather than a specialist object of investigation. By denying that a single, all-encompassing mathematical model can explain everything we are interested in, Classical political economy necessarily requires a comparison and integration of several pieces of theory as the only way to discuss economics and economic policy. Economists inspired by the Classical approach believe that economic theory is historically conditioned: as social systems evolve, the appropriate theory to represent a certain phenomenon must evolve too. Therefore, plurality in methods, including the history of economic thought, must be a deliberate choice, as evidenced by the essays in “Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia.”
“Classical Economics Today” is a tribute to Alessandro Roncaglia, to his personality and his research interests. Roncaglia’s research is based on Schumpeter’s dictum that good economics must encompass history, economic theory and statistics, and therefore does not generally take the form of elegant formal models that are applicable to all and everything. In this direction, Roncaglia is inspired by the Classical economists of the past, and becomes a model for present-day Classical economists. A perceptible family air imbues the essays: all the contributors are friends of Roncaglia and see his personality and his interests as a common point of reference.
Marcella Corsi is professor of economics at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, and editor of the International Review of Sociology
Jan Kregel is director of research at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, USA, and professor of development finance at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. He is coeditor of the Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics
Carlo D’Ippoliti is associate professor of economics at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, and editor of PSL Quarterly Review
Anthem Press is a leading independent publisher of innovative academic research, educational material and reference works in established and emerging fields.
Table of contents
Preface
1. “The Reconstruction of an Alternative Economic Thought: Some Premises”, Salvatore Biasco;
2. “Reflections on Unity and Diversity, the Market and Economic Policy”, Jan Kregel;
3. “Ending Laissez-Faire Finance”, Mario Tonveronachi;
4. “Democracy in Crisis: So What’s New?”, Michele Salvati;
5. “The Democracy of Ideas: J. S. Mill, Liberalism and the Economic Debate”, Marcella Corsi and Carlo D’Ippoliti;
6. “Turgot and the Division of Labor”, Peter Groenewegen;
7. “Agricultural Surplus and the Means of Production”, Gianni Vaggi;
8. “The Role of Sraffa Prices in Post-Keynesian Pricing Theory”, Geoffrey Harcourt;
9. “Classical Underconsumption Theories Reassessed”, Cosimo Perrotta;
10. “On the “Photograph” Interpretation of Piero Sraffa’s Production Equations: A View from the Sraffa Archive”, Heinz D. Kurz and Neri Salvadori;
11. “On the Earliest Formulations of Sraffa’s Equations”, Nerio Naldi;
12. “Normal and Degenerate Solutions of the Walras-Morishima Model”, Bertram Schefold;
13. “Trading in the “Devil’s Metal”: Keynes’s Speculation and Investment in Tin (1921–46)”, Maria Cristina Marcuzzo and Annalisa Rosselli;
14. “The Oil Question, the Prices of Production and a Metaphor”, Sergio Parrinello;
15. “Europe and Italy: Expansionary Austerity and Expansionary Precariousness”, Davide Antonioli and Paolo Pini;
16. “Adam Smith and the Neophysiocrats: War of Ideas in Spain (1800–4)”, Alfonso Sánchez Hormigo.
Mario Cedrini