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Post Keynesian Economics in Cambridge

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The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics

Abstract

In this chapter I use the substantial secondary literature on the first generation of Cambridge Post Keynesians—Richard Goodwin, Richard Kahn, Nicholas Kaldor, Joan Robinson and Piero Sraffa—to explore their failure to establish the revolution in economic theory that they aspired to. First I deal with some tricky questions of terminology, before outlining the work of the Cambridge Post Keynesians before the death of John Maynard Keynes in 1946. Next I assess their achievements in the next 10 years, before explaining why the ensuing decade and a half did not constitute a Golden Age for them, as might reasonably have been predicted in 1956. My story ends in 1973, the publication date of the important but unsuccessful introductory textbook by Joan Robinson and John Eatwell. A brief epilogue discusses the role of Post Keynesian economists in Cambridge today.

I am grateful to Joseph Halevi, Geoff Harcourt and Jan Toporowski for comments on an earlier draft; they have no responsibility for remaining errors of fact and interpretation.

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  1. Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University and Honorary Professor, Federation University, Melbourne, Australia

    John E. King

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  1. Researcher in Economics, United Kingdom

    Robert A. Cord

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King, J.E. (2017). Post Keynesian Economics in Cambridge. In: Cord, R. (eds) The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-41233-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-41233-1_7

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