Employment and Equilibrium: The First Comprehensive Answer by Pigou to Keynes

Abstract

The author examines the argument elaborated by Pigou in his Employment and Equilibrium. A Theoretical Discussion which was the first comprehensive answer Pigou gave to the analysis put forward by Keynes in his General Theory. The chapter consists of seven sections. In the first, the motivation of the chapter is outlined. In the second, third, and fourth sections, the author will concentrate on how Pigou elucidates the conditions necessary for an economic system to attain a short period flow equilibrium. In this context, the author elaborates an “open” macro model which can be “closed” in two different ways. The chapter will also present a diagrammatic analysis of Pigou’s theory in the two cases elucidating the structure and the working of the model. Differences with the author’s previous book (TU) related to (real/monetary) wage inflexibility and the importance of monetary factors are also described and discussed. Pigou however does not limit himself to deal with the short period but engages in an interesting discussion of the long period centered on the notion of stationary state that is the object of section five. In this way, he admits that Keynes’s theory is not limited, to the short run. In arguing along these lines, he comes close to describe what will be recognized later as the Pigou effect. A short comparison with the renewed stagnationist theory is sketched. The sixth section includes a brief discussion of the comparative statics and dynamic analyzes elaborated by Pigou. A final section including a few conclusions completes the chapter.

Citation

Matteo, M.D. (2020), "Employment and Equilibrium: The First Comprehensive Answer by Pigou to Keynes", Fiorito, L., Scheall, S. and Suprinyak, C.E. (Ed.) Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Sir James Steuart: The Political Economy of Money and Trade (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 38C), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 139-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-41542020000038C010