Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations, by Marc Lavoie Chapter 6: Accumulation and Capacity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article reviews the chapter on growth and distribution of the 2022 edition of the book Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations by Marc Lavoie. The review goes through most of the chapter’s main topics, including the main classes of growth and distribution models along post-Keynesian lines and the criticism and extensions of these models. It stresses the macroeconomic paradoxes that result from the relation between aggregate demand and either income distribution or debt dynamics in these models. The review also addresses the new additions to the chapter, among which the recent contributions on the controversy on the convergence towards the normal capacity utilization rate and the non-capacity creating autonomous demand growth models, and Lavoie’s new section on wealth and personal income distribution. At last, the review discusses three issues raised by the chapter’s reading: the relation between realism and complexity for a model’s calibration, the consequences of abstracting the financial side of growth models, and how we address financial issues in growth and stock-flow consistent (SFC) models. The chapter reviewed is balanced and constructive; it critically informs the reader and provides a good map of the post-Keynesian literature on growth and distribution, addressing the canons while bringing novelty.