ABSTRACT
In 1938 Michael Kalecki published an article on income distribution in Econometrica1 which evoked surprise, interest and contradiction. But there are times which are favourable for an extended scientific discussion and there are times which are not so favourable. 1938, the year before the outbreak of war, belonged to the second category. Thus a proper discussion of Kalecki’s paper could not develop right away. Only gradually, after the war, was the subject taken up again by several economists, so that the discussion has become rather intermittent and involved. In this paper I shall not attempt to offer a comprehensive survey of this literature or to pass a final verdict on its results. All I want to do is to present the essential aspects of the discussion with the addition of some sceptical and modifying remarks.
