Abstract
Insofar as economic actors are motivated by a desire to maximize their respective incomes and wealth, rather than the allocation of resources to the production of particular outputs, distribution is, as David Ricardo said, the central problem of political economy. Whatever else its concerns, economic science has political or policy significance with regard to distribution. Such may be its ultimate significance.
Originally published in Analyse & Kritik, vol. 4 (October 1982), pp. 4–12.
The author is indebted to Martin Bronfenbrenner, Byron Brown, William Dugger, Daniel Fusfeld, John P. Henderson, A. Allan Schmid, Howard Sherman, and Lane Vanderslice for comments on an earlier draft and for other discussions.
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© 1992 Warren J. Samuels
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Samuels, W.J. (1992). A Critique of the Discursive Systems and Foundation Concepts of Distribution Analysis. In: Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12371-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12371-1_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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