ABSTRACT
Post-Keynesian economics is a portmantua term covering a number of different viewpoints, but with some common themes, which we highlight. Chief among these is the theoretical and methodical critique of mainstream economics with its reliance on static supply and demand equilibrium analysis. In its stead, post-Keynesians stress the importance of analysis in historical time with an uncertain future, so that expectations have a significant and unavoidable impact on economic events. They see the economy as a historical process, with the unchangeable past influencing the present, with institutions, economic and political forces all playing a fundamental role in shaping economic events. As a result, they deny the validity or usefulness of general theories applicable to all economies. They are also sceptical of the validity of equilibrium methods – rejecting static equilibrium analysis based on logical time. Instead, post-Keynesians stress cumulative causation processes, with particular emphasis on the role of effective demand in determining the levels of employment, output and growth and the importance of money and finance in both the short and long run.
