nep-pke New Economics Papers
on Post Keynesian Economics
Issue of 2023‒10‒02
five papers chosen by
Karl Petrick, Western New England University


  1. Social Processes of Oppression in the Stratified Economy and Veblenian Feminist Post Keynesian Connections By Zdravka Todorova
  2. Economics Imperialism and Economic Imperialism: Two Sides of the Same Coin By Ambrosino, Angela; Cedrini, Mario; Davis, John B.
  3. Deficits, Crowding Out and Inflation in Monetarily Sovereign Nations By Dubey, Rohan Ajay
  4. Agent-based Modeling and the Sociology of Money: a Framework for the Study of Coordination and Plurality By Eduardo Ferraciolli; Tanya Araújo
  5. Investigating the Fiduciary using Social Positioning Theory: An In-depth Analysis By Helen Mussell

  1. By: Zdravka Todorova
    Abstract: Conceptions of social stratification and oppression should be central to Post Keynesian inquiry. The article takes a Veblenian feminist view to discuss aspects of oppression in economies of stratification, and outlines connections to areas of Post Keynesian economics. The article is structured around “five faces of oppression” delineated by political theorist Iris Young: exploitation, violence, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and marginalization. The paper reframes those based on a conception of evolving social processes and diverse economic relations, and employs Veblen’s theory of surplus and stratification, which has a broad understanding of domination that goes beyond capital accumulation. The article provides illustrations of these interconnected aspects of oppression, and discusses how each is co-opted today. The article presents specific connections to Post Keynesian economic analysis and concludes by highlighting the potential of Post Keynesian economics for social justice.
    Keywords: Stratification; Oppression; Thorstein Veblen; Feminist Post Keynesian Economics; Social Processes
    JEL: B52 B54 E12 Z13 Z18
    Date: 2023–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp2311&r=pke
  2. By: Ambrosino, Angela; Cedrini, Mario; Davis, John B. (Department of Economics Marquette University; Department of Economics Marquette University)
    Abstract: We argue that in a core-periphery economic world economics imperialism as advanced by the postwar Chicago School and economic imperialism led by the economies of the north are two sides of the same coin. We first review the parallelism between postwar capitalism’s core-periphery expansion of the north into the south and the Chicago’s theory of economics imperialism. We then distinguish four forms of relationships between different disciplines, and using Rodrik’s augmented global capitalism trilemma argue Chicago adopts his Golden Straitjacket pathway, both for north-south capitalist expansion and core mainstream economics’ orientation toward other social science disciplines. The paper then uses Ricardo’s classic theory of rising rents to argue the Golden Straitjacket pathway is self-undermining for both, because it produces costly rising inframarginal rents in the north economies associated with financialization and in Chicago economics associated with its defense against other disciplines’ reverse imperialisms. We conclude that long-term forces operating on global economic development and the evolution of the social sciences suggest an alternative pathway for both that would produce a more pluralistic world economy and a more pluralistic economics.
    Keywords: economic imperialism, economics imperialism, Rodrik, Golden Straitjacket, Ricardo, financialization, reverse imperialism, pluralism
    JEL: A12 B41 F02
    Date: 2023–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrq:wpaper:2023-03&r=pke
  3. By: Dubey, Rohan Ajay
    Abstract: Government deficits are often viewed negatively by mainstream economic theory. They are believed to lead to higher interest rates, inflation, and crowding out of private investment. This paper aims to evaluate the validity of these conventional beliefs about deficits. To do so, a Modern Monetary Theory and Keynesian theoretical framework have been used. These theories have then been analysed in the context of empirical data from the United States and Japan over the last three decades. I find that deficits have not directly led to higher interest rates, crowding out or inflation in these two nations. The findings emphasise the importance for monetarily sovereign governments to prioritise addressing socio-economic issues faced by citizens rather than being overly concerned about deficits on their own. The findings also indicate the need for a more pluralistic approach to macroeconomic policy that involves considering various schools of thought - such as Modern Monetary Theory - apart from mainstream economics, that may offer a more suitable framework for understanding fiscal policy choices and their respective outcomes.
    Date: 2023–09–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:tf97j&r=pke
  4. By: Eduardo Ferraciolli; Tanya Araújo
    Abstract: The institution of money can be seen as a foundational social mechanism providing communities with the ability to quantify the results of economic processes and collectively regulate independent activities of production and trade – money can be said, indeed, to constitute the micro-macro link in economics. As such, investigations of money’s role in the economy can be fruitfully combined with the tools of social simulation. This paper revisits some of the main positions taken in the contested landscape of monetary theory, evaluating how they might serve as a foundation for the development of a new generation of conceptual and empirical agent-based models.We start out by presenting a comparative review of the way different intellectual traditions in mainstream economics, heterodox economics, and economic sociology attempt to specify the nature of money as an institution and clarify its role in the economy. We extract the key "concepts of money" that each approach emphasizes, paying especially close attention to the contrast between the sociology of money and the microfoundations-related traditions in economics (focusing on "money is memory" models, search-theory and mechanism design). We then review the current literature applying agent-based modeling to questions surrounding the nature of money, assessing some of the main contributions from the perspectives of generative epistemology and of the key concepts identified above. We conclude by indicating different research directions in which we believe agent-based models, in combination with the sociology of money, still have the potential to provide new answers to old questions in monetary theory: by clarifying convergence processes related to money of account, by illustrating the formation of economic structure through symbolic mediation, by constructing tools for analyses of intersubjectivity and coordination, or by providing formal generalization to the social-monetary patterns that are currently being revealed in the wealth of empirical data originating from digital complementary currencies and new histories of money.
    Keywords: monetary theory, agent-based modeling, economic sociology
    Date: 2023–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02852023&r=pke
  5. By: Helen Mussell
    Abstract: The legal concept of the fiduciary is used extensively in both financial and non-financial organisational contexts. It refers to the situation where one party – the Trustee – is entrusted with serving the best interests of another party – the beneficiary. Because of its wide-ranging use, studies of this concept feature in diverse literature, including legal studies, finance, business ethics, healthcare ethics, and social care. This paper delivers a novel analysis of this concept using social ontological theory – specifically Tony Lawson’s social positioning theory (SPT) – to examine the organisational structure and power embedded in fiduciary relations. It does so for two reasons. Firstly, by theorising the fiduciary from a social ontological perspective we can better understand its structure, the effect of structure on agency, how and why it has evolved, and be clearer on potential for future development. Secondly, equipped with this social ontological analysis, we can explain identified contemporary phenomena which seemingly challenges and contests the power relations embedded in the fiduciary’s organisational structure within the context of financial fiduciary relations. The paper concludes by drawing on the emancipatory potential of SPT as outlined by Lawson, but by applying this potential to considering how financial fiduciary relations can be developed in light of the findings of the SPT analysis.
    Keywords: Fiduciary duty; economic agency; trustee; beneficiary; history of finance; share-holder activism; fiduciary activism; contract law; Ethics of Care; Power; Rights and obligations; Trust; Social Ontology; Social positioning theory
    JEL: A12 D02 G11 G30 G32 K12
    Date: 2023–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp536&r=pke

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