Commentary General Economics and Teaching

Foundations of contemporary economics: Joan Robinson and left Keynesianism – Marx, but not Marxism

Henrik Egbert - Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Teodor Sedlarski - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Received: 03 Jun 2022
Revised:
Published:
Downloads: 0
Citations: 0
Issue 6/2020
JEL А10
DOI https://doi.org/10.56497/etj2065603

Abstract

Joan Robinson (1903-1983) is an outstanding Cambridge economist in a variety of aspects. Being a member of the inner circle around Keynes and discussing with him drafts of the „General Theory“ in the early 1930s, she became an ardent defender of Keynes' original ideas. Her first major work is the „Theory of Imperfect Competition“, which became the standard model for depicting real markets as compared to the model of perfect competition. Her work on Marx reintegrated part of his ideas into economic thought while rejecting ideological Marxism. Due to her favoritism of left ideas, her disputes with neoclassical or orthodox economists, and her advocacy of communist regimes after the Second World War, Robinson is also regarded as one of the most controversial economists of her time.

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