ABSTRACT
The question raised in section 1 will be taken up and developed in a more systematic fashion in the remaining sections. Section 2 will be concerned with the basic element of the classical approach. The first part will focus on the central feature of classical theories, namely the kind of explanation given for the division of the product between wages and profits. The second part will
CLASSICAL VERSUS MARGINALIST ANALYSIS 113 draw the implications of that explanation for the analytic structure of the classical theory. This structure is characterized by 'separate' logical stages and is deeply different from the 'simultaneous' determination of distribution, outputs and prices we find in 'neoclassical' theories (see para 3 below on the use of the term 'neoclassical'). Finally in section 3, I shall use the arguments of the preceding two sections to clarify misreadings of Sraffa's work. These misreadings appear to centre on: (a) the role played by consumer preferences and the demand for products in determining outputs; (b) the supposed need of the assumption of constant returns to scale for the significance of the analysis in Production of Commodities, and, finally (c), the radically different meaning from the modern one that demand and supply have in the classical economists and Sraffa. I shall also briefly discuss the meaning and implications of Sraffa's standard system.
