In search of a canonical history of macroeconomics in the interwar period: Haberler's Prosperity and Depression revisited

摘要

The article investigates the methodological foundations of Gottfried Haberler's 1937 classic Prosperity and Depression and their influence on Haberler's assessment of theories prevailing before The General Theory and of Keynes's impact on macroeconomics. It is argued that Haberler was influenced by the ideas of the philosopher of social sciences Felix Kaufmann, whose 1936 book on methodology was instrumental in Haberler's emphasis on the distinction between tautological and empirical statements in economics. Haberler's cristicism of Hayek's capital shortage explanation of the crisis, as well as his rejection of Keynes' equilibrating mechanism through income changes and his scepticism towards econometric modelling of the business cycle, stem in large part from his views on method.