Post-Keynesian economics
Post-Keynesian economics is a school of thought which is based on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes. It differs from the interpretation of Keynes' ideas offered by mainstream Keynesian economics, emphasising in particular:
- The importance of uncertainty, historical time, or non-ergodicity (as opposed to risk, logical time, and ergodic processes).
- The idea that money matters in all runs.
- A rejection of neoclassical general equilibrium models.
Post-Keynesians believe, along with others, that what many call Keynesianism is, in fact, a counterrevolution against the economics of Keynes. Keynesianism, as developed by many American economists, teaches that involuntary unemployment is a temporary or medium run phenomenon. Government pump-priming may be desirable, but if wages and prices were perfectly flexible, mainstream Keynesian economists believe, the labor market would eventually clear.
There are divisions within post-Keynesian economics, e.g. between American post-Keynesians such as Paul Davidson and the Cambridge (England) - Italian branch.
Post-Keynesian economics emphasizes macroeconomics. Many post-Keynes look to American Institutionalists for microeconomics. Institutionalists include such economists as Thorstein Veblen, John R. Commons, Wesley Clair Mitchell, John Maurice Clark, Clarence Ayres, Gunnar Myrdal (not-an-American), and John Kenneth Galbraith.
Major post-Keynesian economists