Abstract
‘Underconsumption’ is the label given to theories which attribute the failure of the total output of an economy to continue to be sold at its cost of production (including normal profit) to too low a ratio of consumption to output. According to underconsumption theories, such deficient consumption leads either to goods being able to be sold only at below-normal rates of profit, or to goods not being able to be sold at all. These effects are seen as leading in turn to cutbacks in production and increases in unemployment. Underconsumption theories are thus amongst those which seek to explain cyclical or secular declines in the rate of economic growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Baran, P.A., and P.M. Sweezy. 1966. Monopoly capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Bleaney, M. 1976. Underconsumption theories: A history and critical analysis. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Cazenove, J. 1822. Considerations on the accumulation of capital and its effects on profits and on exchangeable value. London: J.M. Richardson. Published anonymously.
Chalmers, T. 1832. On political economy, in connexion with the moral state and moral prospects of society. Glasgow: William Collins.
Costabile, L., and R.E. Rowthorn. 1985. Malthus’s theory of wages and growth. Economic Journal 95: 418–437.
Domar, E.D. 1947. Expansion and employment. American Economic Review 37: 34–55.
Eagly, R.V. 1974. The structure of classical economic theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eltis, W.A. 1980. Malthus’s theory of effective demand and growth. Oxford Economic Papers 32: 19–56.
Emmanuel, A. 1969. Unequal exchange: A study of the imperialism of trade. New York: Monthly Review Press. 1972.
Haberler, G. 1937. Prosperity and depression. Geneva: League of Nations.
Hobson, J.A. 1896. The problem of the unemployed. London: Methuen.
Hobson, J.A. 1902. Imperialism: A study. London: Nisbet.
Hobson, J.A. 1909. The industrial system. New York: Longmans.
Hobson, J.A. 1922. The economics of unemployment. London: Allen & Unwin.
Hobson, J.A. 1930. Rationalisation and unemployment. London: Allen & Unwin.
Keynes, J.M. 1936. The general theory of employment, interest and money. London: Macmillan.
King, J.E. 1981. Perish commerce! Free trade and underconsumption in early British radical economics. Australian Economic Papers 20 (37): 235–257.
Lauderdale, Eighth Earl of. 1804. An inquiry into the nature and origin of public wealth. Edinburgh. Reprinted, New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1962.
Lenin, V.I. 1897. A characterisation of economic romanticism (Sismondi and our native Sismondists). In Collected works, ed. V.I. Lenin, vol. 2. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. 1962.
Luxemburg, R. 1913. The accumulation of capital. Trans. A. Schwarzschild, with an introduction by J. Robinson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951.
Malthus, T.R. 1820. Principles of political economy considered with a view to their practical application. London: Murray.
Malthus, T.R. 1836. Principles of political economy considered with a view to their practical application. 2nd ed. London: William Pickering.
Marx, K. 1885. Capital, vol. 2. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1957.
Mummery, A.F., and J.A. Hobson. 1889. The physiology of industry. London: Murray.
Nemmers, E.E. 1956. Hobson and underconsumption. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Robbins, L. 1932. Consumption and the trade cycle. Economica 12: 413–430.
Robinson, J. 1949. Mr Harrod’s dynamics. Economic Journal 59: 68–85.
Rodbertus, K. 1898. Overproduction and crises. London: Swan Sonnenschein.
Sismondi, J.C.L. 1815. Political economy. New York: Kelley. 1966.
Sismondi, J.C.L. 1819. Nouveaux principles d’économie politique. Paris: Delaunay.
Spence, W. 1807. Britain independent of commerce. In Tracts on political economy. London: Longman, Hurst, Orme & Brown. 1822.
Sraffa, P., ed. 1952. Works and correspondence of David Ricardo. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sweezy, P.M. 1942. The theory of capitalist development. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Schneider, M. (2018). Underconsumptionism. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1741
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1741
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences