ABSTRACT
The theory of circular and cumulative causation is receiving renewed attention (see, e.g., Berger 2008; Forstater 2004). Early proponents of the principle were Veblen (1898) and Allyn Young (1928), with later elaborations by Myrdal (1957) and Kaldor (1967). Another early, and underappreciated, expositor of the concept was Adolph Lowe (Lowe [1935] 2003; Forstater 2004). In addition, it is not clear that the other writers directly influenced Lowe in this regard. Like Young and Kaldor, Lowe found inspiration for the notion in Adam Smith, but for Lowe it was rather the work of the classical economists and Marx generally that exhibited the basic vision of cumulative processes. For Lowe, a key difference between the classical and neoclassical approaches regards “the entire possible range of deductive reasoning”:
Let us be quite clear about the disputed region. It concerns the entire natural, social, and technical environment of the economic system . . . the changes in these elements through time . . . [For the classical economists and Marx] the explanation of the order and changes of these data formed part of the theoretical work of economists.
