Lectures on Political Economy (Routledge Revivals)

Two Volumes

Knut Wicksell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780415602419
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136842597
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Known as the "economist's economist" for his work on creating a synthetic economic theory, Swedish economist Knut Wicksell was a controversial, but highly influential figure in modern economic thought. His contributions to marginal productivity theory, income distribution and, most notably, his theory of interest would come to have a profound impact upon twentieth century economic theory, not least in the work of John Maynard Keynes.

First published in English in 1934 and 1935, this Routledge Revival set is a reissue of Wicksell's two volume work on political economy, first published in Sweden in 1901 and 1906. This work is aimed at both the professional economist and the advanced student alike, as well as all those interested in the theoretical development of political economy. Volume I concerns itself predominantly with issues of theory: specifically the theory of value, the theory of production and distribution and the theory of capital accumulation. Volume II deals with theories relating to money, currency and credit.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I

INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSOR LIONEL ROBBINS

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

INTRODUCTION

I. THE THEORY OF VALUE

1. EXCHANGE VALUE AND ITS CAUSES. EARLIER EXPLANATIONS

2. THE CONCEPT OF MARGINAL UTILITY

3. FREE EXCHANGE AND MARKET VALUE

(a)  The different uses of a single commodity

(b)  Exchange at given prices

(c)  Isolated exchange

(d)  Price formation in the open market. Exchange of two commodities

(e)  Continuation. Exchange of three or more commodities

4. OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE THEORY OF MARGINAL UTILITY. EXCEPTIONS TO THE THEORY

5. THE GAIN FROM FREE EXCHANGE

6. PRICING UNDER LIMITED COMPETITION

(a)  Joint Supply and Joint Demand

(b)  Pricing in Retail Trade

(c)  Monopoly Prices

7. PRICING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PRODUCTION

II. THE THEORY OF PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION

1. PRODUCTION WITHOUT CAPITAL

(a)  Landowners as entrepreneurs

(b)  The labourer (or a third party)  as entrepreneur. The profits of the entrepreneur

(c)  The influence of technical inventions on rent and wages

2. CAPITALISTIC PRODUCTION

(a)  The concept of capital

(b)  The marginal productivity of capital. Capital investment for a single year

(c)  Capital investment over a period of years

Note on Böhm-Bawerk’s Theory of Interest

(d)  Alternative treatment of the problems of interest and distribution

(e)  Controversies concerning the theory of capital

3. THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE. THE THEORY OF EXCHANGE-VALUE IN ITS FINAL FORM

III. CAPITAL ACCUMULATION

APPENDICES

1. PROFESSOR CASSEL’S SYSTEM OF ECONOMICS

2. REAL CAPITAL AND INTEREST

(a)  Dr. Gustaf Åkerman’s Realkapital und Kapitalzins

(b)  A mathematical analysis of Dr. Åkerman’s problem

INTRODUCTION

Johan Gustaf Knut Wicksell, the author of these lectures, is an economist of outstanding achievement whose work has not yet received in English-speaking countries the attention it deserves. In Scandinavia where he taught, and in Central Europe and Italy where he has long been read, his influence has already been extensive and important. But, in other parts, even at the time of his death in 1926, he was probably less known than any other economist of commensurate rank. In recent years, however, largely as a result of the writings of Professor Hayek and Mr. J. M. Keynes, his theories concerning the rate of interest and the price level have become more widely known and his reputation is on the increase. It is safe to say that as the main body of his work becomes available this process is likely to continue.

Wicksell was born in 1851. He was thus nine years younger than Marshall, three years younger than Pareto, and the exact contemporary of Böhm-Bawerk and Wieser. His interest in Economics developed comparatively late: his first important work, Über Wert, Kapital und Rente, was not published until 1893. He graduated in philosophy and mathematics, and it was not until after taking his second degree in 1885 that he turned his attention seriously to the subject which became his life-work. After ten years’ further study in France, Germany, Austria, and England he took his doctorate in economics. In 1900 he was appointed assistant professor of Political Economy at Lund. From 1904 to 1916 he held the chair in the same university. He died in 1926.

Wicksell’s central contributions to theoretical economics are all outlined, if not fully developed, in three books, all in German, which appeared in rapid succession at the commencement of his career in the nineties: Über Wert, Kapital und Rente, which appeared in 1893¹; Finanztheoretische Untersuchungen, which appeared in 1896; and Geldzins und Güterpreise, which appeared in 1898. In the first he developed an outline solution of the main problems of the pure theory of value and distribution. In the second he applied certain elements in this solution to the special problems of the theory of public finance...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents of Volume I
• Introduction by Professor Lionel Robbins
• Author’s Preface to Second Edition
• Introduction
• I. The Theory of Value
• II. The Theory of Production and Distribution
• III. Capital Accumulation
• Appendices
• Volume 2
• Authors Index
• Subject Index