Radical uncertainty Levy, Jonathan
The Critical quarterly,
April 2020, 2020-04-00, 20200401, Letnik:
62, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this article, I turn to the issue of the historical origins of risk. I argue for the merits of situating risk within the broader historical terrain of uncertainty. I then give one possible ...genealogical account of the concept of ‘radical uncertainty’, by appealing to the economic theory of John Maynard Keynes. The historical origins of radical uncertainty can be located in the emergence of the concept of money capital in the late thirteenth-century commercialising communities of the Mediterranean. I conclude by speculating about the possible analytical traction of radical uncertainty as a category of analysis with which to make sense of risk in modern capitalist societies.
It is a little over seventy years since John Maynard Keynes produced his magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Keynes' staggering achievement has been to remain relevant ...to economics and other disciplines even today and this book reflects that with an examination on his influence on modern economics.
Leading economists from a variety of backgrounds, including Ed Nell and Heinz Kurz have joined forces in this volume with internationally respected Japanese scholars to produce a strong collection of contributions to the debate on Keynes' monumental legacy. This book will be vital reading for historians of economic thought, economic methodologists as well as those economists with an interest in the overall development of their discipline.
The current crisis has triggered significant debate concerning economic theory and policy. Largely absent from this debate is an informed discussion of the methods used by economists in analysing the ...economy and formulating their proposals. But method matters. Here I argue that current academic research practices need to be transformed before real insight can be achieved. Specifically, I indicate why and how a more grounded framework than that presupposed by current research practices facilitates a potentially more fruitful approach to understanding the crisis.
Resumo O objetivo do artigo é mostrar que as ideais de Keynes chegaram ao Brasil para um público mais amplo. O veículo de chegada de Keynes e suas ideias foi o jornal e isso ocorreu a partir do ano ...de 1920. Keynes e suas posições foram amplamente divulgados nos jornais brasileiros a partir da discussão do seu livro As Consequências Econômicas da Paz, publicado em 1919. O nome de Keynes e suas ideias estiveram sempre presentes nos jornais brasileiros durante a vida profissional mais ativa (1917-1946) do economista britânico. É enganoso imaginar que as ideias de Keynes chegaram ao Brasil inicialmente para o público restrito de economistas. É também enganoso imaginar que as ideias de Keynes chegaram ao Brasil após a publicação da Teoria Geral do Emprego, do Juro e da Moeda, publicada em 1936, ou ainda durante as discussões que envolveram a reconstrução monetária mundial do pós-Segunda Guerra.
Abstract: This paper aims to show that Keynes' ideas reached a broader audience when first introduced in Brazil. The vehicle was the newspaper, and it started in the year 1920. Brazilian newspapers widely publicized Keynes' positions with discussions of his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace, released in 1919. Keynes' name and ideas were a constant presence in Brazilian newspapers during the most active part of his professional life (1917-1946). It is misleading to imagine that Keynes' ideas were first introduced in Brazil for a restricted audience of economists. Or only after the publication of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, in 1936. Or even during discussions involving the post-World War II monetary reconstruction.
O presente artigo pretende discutir os significados do termo “geral” utilizado por John Maynard Keynes na sua Magnum opus, intitulada: “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money”, também ...conhecida como “Teoria Geral” (TG). A diversidade dos conceitos usados na exposição, e o novo método de abordagem dos problemas da vida real no âmbito econômico, tornaram a TG uma obra complexa e polêmica, porém assaz importante. É preciso entender que o objeto de estudo de Keynes é o que ele chamou de economia monetária da produção, uma espécie de codinome para modo de produção capitalista. A principal conclusão demonstra, mediante necessária reflexão, que, apesar das dificuldades e críticas, a TG dispõe dos elementos teóricos necessários para compreender os fenômenos do desemprego, da inflação e do ciclo econômico e, inclusive, de intervenção estatal visando, justamente, minimizar os graves problemas do capitalismo: desemprego, inflação, má distribuição de renda e de desigualdade socioeconômica. Palavras-chave: teoria geral; economia monetária da produção; desemprego; intervenção estatal; desigualdade socioeconômica.
Well-connected in academia, business and government, John Maynard Keynes was one of the most influential economic theorists of the twentieth century. It appears that his theories will be just as ...important for the twenty-first. As Keynes himself explained, his ideas throughout his life were influenced by the moral philosophy he learned as an undergraduate. Nevertheless, the meaning and significance for Keynes of this early philosophy have remained largely unexplored.
Keynes and the British Humanist Tradition offers an interpretation of Keynes’s early philosophy and its implications for his later thought. It approaches that philosophy from the perspective of the nineteenth century intellectual context out of which it emerged. The book argues that roots of Keynes’s early beliefs are to be found in the traditions of the Apostles, the very famous secret society to which he and most of his teachers belonged. The principles of Keynes’s philosophy can be seen in such writers as John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick, but the underlying ideas have been obscured by changing fashions in philosophy and thus require excavation and reconstruction.
This book will be of interest to students and researchers in the history of economics, in particular the thought of John Maynard Keynes, especially his ethics, politics and economics.
David Andrews is currently Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and Associate Professor, State University of New York at Oswego, USA.
1. Introduction 2. Religion 3. Morals 4. Politics 5. Economics 6. Conclusion
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