Hayek's Ricardo Effect: A Second Look

摘要

By emphasizing the inapplicability of the perfectly competitive model especially in the supply of loanable funds, and by insisting on the disequilibrium nature of the cumulative process, Hayek was speaking a different language from his peers in the 1930s, 1940s and, surprisingly, in the late 1960s as well. Hayek challenged the relevance and appropriateness of comparative static analysis to an expanding economy. His struggle to free himself from the precepts of comparative static analysis constitutes, in our view, the elusive element in his thinking and explains why so much miscommunication occurred. Hayek's most formidable opponent, Kaldor, seemed unable to structure the problem except in comparative static terms, and this we believe is what prompted Hayek to focus on their methodological differences.