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Alternative Aspects of Monetary Theory in the “General Theory”: Signifiance and Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Paola Potestio
Paola Potestio*
Affiliation:
University of Rome
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Abstract

The article argues that there are two distinct conceptions of money in Keynes’ General Theory, one pertinent to the model of Chs. 1–15 and the other to the model of Ch. 17. Within the context of the first conception no aspect of money other than its role as a link between the present and the future is essential. Whitin the context of the second, the peculiar characteristics of money (low or zero elasticities of production and substitution) assume a decisive role and are crucial in the explanation of the unemployment equilibrium. The article points out that, as a result of this dichotomy, alternative aspects of monetary theory emerge, so that the General Theory cannot be regarded as providing a unified theoritical framework.

Cet article soutient que, dans sa “théorie générale”, Keynes expose deux thèses différents à propos de la monnaie, la première contenue dans les chapitres un à quinze, la seconde, dans le chapitre dix-sept. Dans la première, le seul rôle atribué à la monnaie est la liaison entre le présent et le futur. Dans le seconde, les caractéristiques propres de la monnaie (élasticité faible ou nulle par rapport au niveau de production et élasticité de substitution faible ou nulle) ont une importance décisive. Celles-ci sont censées être cruciales pour expliquer l’équilibre de sous-emploi.

Ces aspects joints mais alternatifs de la théorie monétaire, que l'article dévoile, contribuent ç illustrer l'impossibilité d'une approche unique de la “Théorie générate”.

Keywords

011011
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , 1989 , pp. 257 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1989 

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Footnotes

*

A very preliminary draft of this article was presented at the “Deuxième Colloque de l’Association Charles Gide pour l’Etude de la Pensée Economique” on the theme La monnaie: Objet théorique, sujet historique? which took place in Nice on September 24th/25th, 1987.

References

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