Minsky, Veblen, and the endogeneity of the capitalism crises

A comparative analysis between Minsky and Veblen

Keywords: Crisis, Economic cycle, Veblen, Minsky, Financial Fragility

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing economic crises from the viewpoint of Minsky's and Veblen's analytical frameworks. We aim at understanding how both authors build their theories of crisis as endogenous processes to capitalism dynamics and identifying the main building blocks of each approach. We present the convergences and divergences between Minsky and Veblen, stressing that, despite having different theoretical basis, the analyses of both authors have many points of contact, which permit us to stablish a dialogue between them. The evolutionary nature of economic processes and the role of temporality and uncertainty in both approaches are highlighted as the main points of convergence. At the end, we argue that the Minskyian framework consists in a refinement of the analysis of crises as endogenous phenomena of capitalism and an incorporation of institutionalist features into its theory reinforces this framing.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Daniel Chaves Drach, Unicamp

Mphil in Economics at Universidade Estadual de Campinas

References

Carvalho, F. J. C. (2016) “Is this ‘it’? An outline of a theory of depressions”, Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, 36(3), p. 451-469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0101-31572015v36n03a01

Carvalho, F. J. C. (2020) “Keynes e o Pós-Keynesianos: princípios de macroeconomia para uma economia monetária de produção”. Rio de Janeiro: Alta Books.

Cassidy, J. (2008) “The Minsky moment”, The New Yorker, 4 fev. Disponível em: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/02/04/the-minsky-moment.

Cavalieri, M. A. R. (2013) “O surgimento do institucionalismo norte-americano de Thorstein Veblen: economia política, tempo e lugar”, Economia e Sociedade 22(1), p. 43-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-06182013000100002

Cruz, M. (2007) "The essence of Veblen's social and economic theory, his archimedean lever". Mimeo.

Davidson, P. (1978) "Money and the real world". London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Delli Gatti, D.; Gallegati, M. (1997) "At the root of the financial instability hypothesis: 'induced investment and business cycles'”, Journal of Economic Issues 31(2), p. 527-534. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.1997.11505943

Dequech, D. (2007) "Neoclassical, mainstream, orthodox, and heterodox economics", Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics 30(2), p. 279-302. https://dx.doi.org/10.2753/PKE0160-3477300207

Dequech, D. (2011) "Uncertainty: A typology and refinements of existing concepts", Journal of Economic Issues 45(3), p. 621-640. https://doi.org/10.2753/JEI0021-3624450306

Dimand, R. W. (2004) "Echoes of Veblen's Theory of business enterprise in the later development of macroeconomics: Fisher's debt-deflation theory of great depressions and the financial instability theories of Minsky And Tobin", International Review Of Sociology 14(3), p. 461-470. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0390670042000318313

Dow, S. C. (2012) "Foundations for new economic thinking:" A collection of essays. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Earl, P. E. (ed.) (1989) "Behavioural economics", vols. 1 e 2. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.

Henry, J. F. (2012) "Veblen, Minsky and evolutionary economics". Mimeo.

Hodgson, G. (1989), "Post-Keynesianism and institutionalism: the missing link", In: J. Pheby (ed.) New directions in Post-Keynesian economics, Aldershot: Edward Elgar.

Hodgson, G. (1999) "Post-Keynesianism and institutionalism: Another look at the link". In: Setterfield, M. (Ed.) Growth, employment and inflation: Essays In Honour of John Cornwall, P. 72-87. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Keen, S. (2006) "The recession we can't avoid?", Mimeo [Steve Keen's Monthly Debt Report November 2006].

Kelso, P. R.; Duman, B. L. (1992) "A Veblenian view of Minsky's financial crisis theory", International Journal Of Social Economics 19(10/11/12), p. 222-234. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000000514

Kregel, J. (2008) "Minsky's cushions of safety, systemic risk and the crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market", The Levy Economics Institute Public Policy Brief, n. 93.

Lakatos, I. (1977) "The methodology of scientific research programmes: philosophical papers" Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lavoie, M. (2020) "Was Hyman Minsky a Post-Keynesian economist?", Review of Evolutionary Political Economy 1, p. 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-020-00002-7

Mehrling, P. (1999) "The vision of Hyman P. Minsky", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 39, p. 129-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-2681(99)00029-3

Minsky, H. P. (1967) “Financial intermediation in the money and capital markets”, In: G. Pontecorvo, R. Shay, A. Hart (eds.) Issues in banking and monetary analysis, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p. 33-56.

Minsky, H. P. (1977a) "The financial instability hypothesis: an interpretation of Keynes and an alternative to 'standard” theory'", Nebraska Journal of Economics and Business 16(1), p. 5-16.

Minsky, H. P. (1977b) "A theory of systemic fragility", In: E. Altman, A. Sametz (eds.) Financial crises, New York: Wiley.

Minsky, H. P. (1984) Can "it" happen again?: Essays on instability and finance. New York: M. E. Sharpe.

Minsky, H. P. (1992) "The financial instability hypothesis", Levy Economics Institute Working Paper, 74.

Minsky, H. P. (1996) "Uncertainty and the institutional structure of capitalist economies", Journal of Economic Issues 30(2), p. 357-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.1996.11505800

Minsky, H. P. (2008) "Stabilizing an unstable economy". New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Papadimitriou, D. B. (2004), "Induced investment and business cycles". Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Papadimitriou, D. B.; Wray, L. R. (1999) "Minsky's analysis of financial capitalism", The Levy Economics Institute Of Bard College Working Paper, n 275.

Rutherford, M. (1994) Institutions in economics: the old and the new institutionalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sent, E.-M. (2004) "Behavioural economics: how psychology made its (limited) way back into economics", History of Political Economy 36(4), p. 735–60. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-36-4-735

Toporowski, J. (2008) "Minsky’s induced investment and business cycles", Cambridge Journal of Economics 32(5), p. 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bem059.

Veblen, T. B. (1898) "The instinct of workmanship and the irksomeness of labor", American Journal of Sociology 4(2), p. 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1086/210791.

Veblen, T. B. (1899[1994]) "The theory of the leisure class". London: Penguin Books.

Veblen, T. B. (1904) "The theory of business enterprise". New York: C. Scribner's Sons.

Veblen, T. B. (1908a) "On the nature of capital: investment, intangible assets, and the pecuniary magnate", The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 23(1), p. 104-136. https://doi.org/10.2307/1883967

Veblen, T. B. (1908b) "On the nature of capital", The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 22(4), p. 517-542. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884915

Veblen, T. B. (1914) "The instinct of workmanship and the State of the industrial arts". New York: Macmillan.

Wray, L. R. (2009) "The rise and fall of money manager capitalism: a minskian approach", Cambridge Journal of Economics 33(4), p. 807-828. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bep024

Wray, L. R. (2016) “Why Minsky matters: an introduction to the work of a maverick economist”. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Published
2021-05-29
How to Cite
Montani Martins, N., & Chaves Drach, D. (2021). Minsky, Veblen, and the endogeneity of the capitalism crises: A comparative analysis between Minsky and Veblen. Brazilian Keynesian Review, 6(2), 267-289. https://doi.org/10.33834/bkr.v6i2.229
Section
Articles