Search results

Contrasts the methodologies and policy implications of the respective theories of John Maynard Keynes and Alvin Hansen. Keynes used a rationalistic epistemology and deductive logic to deduce a pure theory of employment which implied that monetary policy would be an appropriate remedy for unemployment. Hansen used an empirical epistemology and inductive logic to formulate an applied theory of employment which explained the causes of the Great Depression in the USA. Hansen′s theory of secular stagnation implied that a compensatory fiscal policy would be an effective remedy for unemployment. The respective theories of Keynes and Hansen are complementary, rather than contradictory; therefore, social economists should utilize both of these theories under appropriate circumstances.

The essays by Sauer and Cassidy have argued that significant questions can be raised philosophically and historically about the guiding assumptions of economic behaviour. One can also argue that these assumptions offer a partial view of human being with an accompanying loss of the sense of the whole person. Economics tends to reduce the multiform and rich notion of person to simply a datum of economic activity. In this essay, I will argue that there is a need to re‐examine basic assumptions about what it means to be fully human. I will do this from the perspective of developmental psychology, because developmental psychology has empirically based theories that produce expectations about humanity and the future that are very different from those ascribed by economics. This essay will examine developmental theory, particularly that of Robert Kegan, to show its relevance to providing a direction for economics.

Kendall P. Cochran has claimed that John Maynard Keynes “developed a theory that would try ‘to account for things as they are’. In so doing he became another important social economist.

This note presents new archival evidence about John Maynard Keynes’ attitudes toward Jews. The relevant material is composed of two letters sent by Robert G. Wertheimer to Bertrand Russell and Richard F. Kahn along with their replies. Between 1963 and 1964, Wertheimer – an Austrian-born Jewish immigrant then professor of economics at Babson College – wrote to Russell and Kahn asking for their personal reminiscences concerning Keynes’ anti-Semitic utterances. In their brief but still significant responses, both Russell and Kahn firmly denied any hint of anti-Semitism in Keynes, thereby providing significant first-hand testimonies from two of his closest acquaintances.

The debate about corporate purpose is a recurring one that has re-emerged today. What should be the guiding principles of business: the pursuit of profit or a contribution to public interest? We trace key elements in this debate in Britain and America, from the interwar years, when John Maynard Keynes and Adolf Berle made important contributions, to the 1970s, when events ushered in a return to laissez-faire and the rise to dominance of the shareholder primacy model of corporate governance and purpose, to today. Both the earlier and the current debates are centered around whether we see business institutions as strictly private entities, transacting with their suppliers, workers, and customers on terms agreed with or imposed upon these groups, or as part of society at large and therefore expected to contribute to what society deems to be its interests. Whether current developments will ultimately produce a shift in corporate purpose akin to the one that followed the Second World War remains to be seen. But the parallels to the interwar debates, and the uncertain economic, political, and social environments in which they took place, are striking. Our objective is to see what might be learned from the past to inform the current direction of thought concerning capitalism and corporate purpose.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to reveal a missing chapter of Australian Aboriginal history. Jack Johnson is known as the first black Heavyweight Champion of the world but little is known of his inspiration to many oppressed groups around the globe including Aboriginal Australia. Johnson was flamboyant, outspoken and deeply proud of his heritage.

Design/methodology/approach – This chapter is undertaken as restorative history and examines the interconnected international networks of cultural exchange operational in the early decades of the twentieth century. It privileges the tools of historical narrative (story) as a major method, and is based largely on historical newspapers sources’. Press coverage can provide fascinating insight into historical characters and can deliver their voice and thoughts at the time, and newspapers remain important in forming public opinion.

Findings – Jack Johnson would become one of many influences from the international Black Diaspora upon Aboriginal Australia across the twentieth century.

Originality/value – John Maynard’s work on Jack Johnson (Maynard, J. (2003). Vision, Voice and Influence – The rise of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association. Australian Historical Studies, 121(April), 91–105, 2005, 2007) and more recently Theresa Runstedtler’s study (2012) has uncovered transnational links of Jack Johnson to many oppressed groups globally including Aboriginal Australia. This current study places Johnson’s impact upon Aboriginal Australia at the forefront of a shift and awakening awareness of Aboriginal Australians of their global political and racial challenges.