Carlo Benetti

Money, Form and Determination of Value

The concept of form of value is certainly one of Marx’s outstanding contributions. A short discussion of the difficulties of the contemporary monetary theory in its most developed version (the neoclassical one) will show that this concept is the necessary starting point (or the rational basis) for monetary theory, hence for price theory, whatever the choice of a particular value theory.

Reproduction and Temporary Disequilibrium: A Classical Approach

We build a bisector reproduction model with classical features in which the capitalists aim at maximizing accumulation of their profits. At variance with gravitation models, it is assumed that they invest their profits in their own industry. Their plans are based on actual productions and expected prices. Effective prices and effective allocations of resources are determined by a market-clearing mechanism. A simple law on the formation of expectations allows us to define the dynamics of disequilibria, which let appear endogenous self-sustained fluctuations, around a long-run path. The long-run rate of growth and the amplitude of the fluctuations depend on the initial conditions.

Disequilibrium and reproduction prices: some extensions of Sraffa's model

According to the preface of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities (1960), ‘no changes in output’ are considered in Sraffa’s model and, according to Section 4, the rate of profit ‘must be uniform for all industries’.1 Sraffa’s formalisation and ideas have now been studied for more than 50 years and have inspired a huge branch of literature which attempts to extend his basic model and to combine it with other economic ideas endorsed by the Classicals. For instance, many contemporary models deal with steady growth (the rates of accumulation are uniform among industries); others analyse the ‘gravitation process’ mentioned by Smith and Ricardo and wonder if the market prices, which generate differentiated rates of profit, do cycle around (or converge towards) natural prices.