Fontana, G and Sawyer, M (2016) Towards post-Keynesian ecological macroeconomics. Ecological Economics, 121. pp. 186-195. ISSN 0921-8009
Abstract
The paper starts with a brief criticism of macroeconomic analyses of different schools of thought for their focus on economic growth and maximisation of output. This applies to the traditional Keynesian approach, which has focused on the achievement of sufficient aggregate demand to underpin full employment and full capacity utilisation, down-playing aggregate supply constraints. This also applies to the neoclassical approach, including the current New Consensus Macroeconomics approach, which asserts the dominant role of aggregate supply in the long run, and where growth is set by the so-called 'natural rate of growth', with no concerns over environmental and ecological issues. The paper then proposes a different approach to macroeconomic analysis. It explicitly acknowledges that economic growth is a double-edged sword. Growth can help to alleviate persistent levels of high unemployment, but it can also lead to potentially catastrophic environmental problems. Building on the Monetary Circuit theory and the Demand-led growth theory, the paper offers an analysis of the interconnections and interdependence of the economic, biophysical and social worlds and by doing it hopes to provide the building blocks for the establishment of post-Keynesian ecological macroeconomics.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015, Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Ecological Economics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Ecological economics; Sustainability; Post-Keynesian; Monetary Circuit; Kaleckian; Demand-led growth |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Economics Division (LUBS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2015 15:12 |
Last Modified: | 21 Apr 2016 19:36 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.03.017 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.03.017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:87723 |