Abstract
The death of Joan Robinson on 5 August and of Piero Sraffa on 3 September 1983, marks the end of an era in Cambridge economics and, indeed, in economics itself. Both were associated with major upheavals in economic theory in the twentieth century; both made major contributions, not only through their devastating criticism of orthodoxy but also by providing solid foundations for alternative, more fruitful approaches in economic theory. Their contributions are related to those of four other great economists — Ricardo, Marx, Marshall, and Keynes. In addition, Kalecki was an important influence on Joan Robinson and Maurice Dobb was an indispensable collaborator of Piero Sraffa’s. Of their other contemporaries, Richard Kahn as critic and guide was essential to Joan Robinson and Kahn himself mentions Sraffa as his oldest friend.
Reprinted from Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, VI, Spring, 1984, pp. 466–9.
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Reference
Robinson, Austin (1977) ‘Keynes and His Cambridge Colleagues’, in Keynes, Cambridge and The General Theory, ed. by Don Patinkin and J. Clark Leith, London, Macmillan.
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© 1993 G. C. Harcourt
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Harcourt, G.C. (1993). The End of an Era: Joan Robinson (1903–83) and Piero Sraffa (1898–1983). In: Post-Keynesian Essays in Biography. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12826-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12826-6_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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