More Cobwebs? Robert Solow, Uncertainty, and the Theory of Distribution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5113616 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Darity (0000-0003-1358-9101, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | Suppl_1 |
| Pages | 149-160 |
| Publication date | 2009-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2702 • E-ISSN: 1527-1919 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00182702-2009-021 |
| OpenAlex | W2036443347 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
At the close of his (justifi ably) famous 1956 QJE paper, Robert Solow referred to a set of qualifi cations for the model he had just presented in the preceding pages. The model was, of course, the well-known framework of steady-state, full-employment growth featuring an aggregate production function in intensive form with substitutability between the two factors, capital and labor, under constant returns to scale. It is often called the neoclassical theory of economic growth—Solow himself characterized it as such in the 1956 paper—and his intensive form of the aggregate production function has been borrowed by scores of subsequent economists—including myself (e.g., Darity 1981)—in a still-growing array of papers. The limitations on the model that Solow (1956, 91) highlighted included “some of the more elementary obstacles to full employment.” Among the obstacles highlighted by Solow were wage rigidity, the liquidity trap and its counterpoint, insensitivity of investment to the interest rate, and uncertainty (91–94). At the end of the paper, Solow observed, “All these cobwebs and some others have been brushed aside throughout this essay” (94). Ironically, “these cobwebs” constituted the core of Solow’s subsequent research program. It was Solow in tandem with Paul Samuelson who reinterpreted the Phillips curve as positing a stabilization policy
Economics · Keynesian economics · Liquidity preference · Macroeconomics · Market liquidity · Mathematical economics · Neoclassical economics · Production (economics · Production function · Economic Growth and Productivity · Economic theories and models · Economic Theory and Policy
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An Essay in Dynamic Theory
Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function
Alternative Theories of Distribution
Income Distribution Theory
The Laws of Returns under Competitive Conditions
On Growth Models and the Neo-Classical Resurgence
An Essay in Dynamic Theory
A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth
Retrospectives Whatever Happened to the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies
Perspectives on Growth Theory
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |