Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Piero Sraffa: Piero Sraffa (1898–1983) was an Italian economist known for his critique of neoclassical economics and contributions to classical economics revival. His key work, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities (1960), laid the foundation for the neo-Ricardian school, analyzing value and distribution in economic systems. Sraffa also edited influential editions of Ricardo's writings._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Mark Blaug on Sraffa, Piero - Dictionary of Arguments
Harcourt I 195 Sraffa/Blaug/Harcourt: „P. Sraffa, the editor of Ricardo's works, has recently published a puzzling book, entitled Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory (1960(1)). It is a kind of'Ricardo in modern dress', containing all the characteristic Ricardian touches: the search for a standard of value independent of demand and unaffected by changes in the distribution of the total product between wages and profits; the neglect of factor substitution and changes in the scale of operations; Harcourt I 196 the division of commodities into two classes - 'basic' commodities that do and 'nonbasic' commodities that do riot enter into the production of all commodities including themselves; the emphasis on a 'standard commodity' as the yardstick of value, defined as a commodity produced only by basic commodities in a 'standard ratio', that is, in the same proportion as they enter into the production of total output; culminating, of course, in the demonstration that relative prices depend only on the technical conditions of producing the 'standard commodity' and on nothing else. The argument is intimately related to some 20th-century linear-programming models of the economy, and yet no reference is made to any work more recent than Marx. t is the sort of book Ricardo might have written if only he had gone straight to the point without ifs and buts: the reasoning is terse and condensed, no concessions are made to the reader, and it is not clear, even when we reach the end, just how this could constitute a 'Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory'. Without first struggling through Ricardo, one might find Sraffa incomprehensible; but after Ricardo, he is plain sailing, and we can almost see on the first page where we are going.“ Blaug [1968](2), pp. 143-4. 1. Sraffa, Piero [1960] Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). 2. Blaug, M. [1968] Economic Theory in Retrospect (London: Heinemann, 2nd ed.)._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Blaug I Mark Blaug Ricardian Economics: a Historical Study Hassell Street Press 2021 Harcourt I Geoffrey C. Harcourt Some Cambridge controversies in the theory of capital Cambridge 1972 |
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