Home Business & Economics Chapter 10. Abba P. Lerner–The Artist as Economist
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 10. Abba P. Lerner–The Artist as Economist

View more publications by Princeton University Press
To Publisher Page
The Academic Scribblers
This chapter is in the book The Academic Scribblers
ABBA P. LERNER THE ARTIST AS ECONOMIST The nearest thing to a systematic philosophy is my feeling that it is only a concern for improving the condition of man which justifies work in economics. This, in spite of the keen enjoyment I have always felt, and still do, in the mental exercise involved in the achievement of elegant proofs and diagrams. However I have always felt that this could have been obtained in a higher degree if I had gone in for mathematics or chess, which I refrained from doing for the very same reason, namely that I found economics about equally enjoyable and much more useful. Abba P. Lerner Although Keynes's General Theory is often thought of as revolutioniz­ing popular attitudes towards the desirability of government interven­tion to stabilize the economy, the book itself is devoted almost entirely to pure theory. The reader of the General Theory will search in vain for the tools of fiscal policy that the beginning student is routinely taught in the macroeconomics portion of the course in principles of economics.1 For the truth is that the systematic treatment of fiscal policy and the concepts associated wih it were not the work of Keynes but rather that of his brilliant disciples, principally in America. Thus, for example, it was Alvin Hansen and his student Paul Samuelson who first incorporated the idea of an accelerator into the Keynesian system. This device seemed to show that only ever-increasing government expenditures would be able to maintain full employment. Furth­ermore, it was Samuelson who worked out the arithmetic of the income-expenditure models and of the balanced budget multipliers. 1 For more on this point, see Axel Leijonhufvud, On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), pp. 401-04.

ABBA P. LERNER THE ARTIST AS ECONOMIST The nearest thing to a systematic philosophy is my feeling that it is only a concern for improving the condition of man which justifies work in economics. This, in spite of the keen enjoyment I have always felt, and still do, in the mental exercise involved in the achievement of elegant proofs and diagrams. However I have always felt that this could have been obtained in a higher degree if I had gone in for mathematics or chess, which I refrained from doing for the very same reason, namely that I found economics about equally enjoyable and much more useful. Abba P. Lerner Although Keynes's General Theory is often thought of as revolutioniz­ing popular attitudes towards the desirability of government interven­tion to stabilize the economy, the book itself is devoted almost entirely to pure theory. The reader of the General Theory will search in vain for the tools of fiscal policy that the beginning student is routinely taught in the macroeconomics portion of the course in principles of economics.1 For the truth is that the systematic treatment of fiscal policy and the concepts associated wih it were not the work of Keynes but rather that of his brilliant disciples, principally in America. Thus, for example, it was Alvin Hansen and his student Paul Samuelson who first incorporated the idea of an accelerator into the Keynesian system. This device seemed to show that only ever-increasing government expenditures would be able to maintain full employment. Furth­ermore, it was Samuelson who worked out the arithmetic of the income-expenditure models and of the balanced budget multipliers. 1 For more on this point, see Axel Leijonhufvud, On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), pp. 401-04.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS vii
  3. Foreword ix
  4. Preface to the First Edition xiii
  5. Preface to the Second Edition xv
  6. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  7. PART ONE. THE PILLARS OF NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
  8. Chapter 2. The Intellectual Gantry of Neoclassical Economic Policy 7
  9. Chapter 3. Alfred Marshall– Exemplar of Neoclassical Economic Thought 19
  10. PART TWO. THE ECLIPSE OF NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
  11. Chapter 4. Thorstein Veblen–The Abrogation of Consumer Sovereignty 31
  12. Chapter 5. Arthur Cecil Pigou–Externalities in Production 43
  13. Chapter 6. Edward Hastings Chamberlin–The Wastes of Competition 53
  14. Chapter 7. John Maynard Keynes–Unemployment in Equilibrium 65
  15. PART THREE. THE NEW ECONOMICS
  16. Chapter 8. Alvin H. Hansen–The American Keynes 81
  17. Chapter 9. Paul A. Samuelson–From Economic Wunderkind to Policymaker 107
  18. Chapter 10. Abba P. Lerner–The Artist as Economist 137
  19. Chapter 11. John Kenneth Galbraith–Economist as Social Critic 161
  20. PART FOUR. THE NEW NEOCLASSICISM
  21. Chapter 12. Frank H. Knight–Philosopher of the Counterrevolution in Economics 193
  22. Chapter 13. Henry C. Simons–Radical Proponent of Laissez-faire 207
  23. Chapter 14. Milton Friedman–Classical Liberal as Economic Scientist 223
  24. Chapter 15. Conclusion 263
  25. Afterword: The Academic Scribblers after Twenty-Five Years 267
  26. NAME INDEX 275
  27. SUBJECT INDEX 278
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400864898.137

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS vii
  3. Foreword ix
  4. Preface to the First Edition xiii
  5. Preface to the Second Edition xv
  6. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  7. PART ONE. THE PILLARS OF NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
  8. Chapter 2. The Intellectual Gantry of Neoclassical Economic Policy 7
  9. Chapter 3. Alfred Marshall– Exemplar of Neoclassical Economic Thought 19
  10. PART TWO. THE ECLIPSE OF NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
  11. Chapter 4. Thorstein Veblen–The Abrogation of Consumer Sovereignty 31
  12. Chapter 5. Arthur Cecil Pigou–Externalities in Production 43
  13. Chapter 6. Edward Hastings Chamberlin–The Wastes of Competition 53
  14. Chapter 7. John Maynard Keynes–Unemployment in Equilibrium 65
  15. PART THREE. THE NEW ECONOMICS
  16. Chapter 8. Alvin H. Hansen–The American Keynes 81
  17. Chapter 9. Paul A. Samuelson–From Economic Wunderkind to Policymaker 107
  18. Chapter 10. Abba P. Lerner–The Artist as Economist 137
  19. Chapter 11. John Kenneth Galbraith–Economist as Social Critic 161
  20. PART FOUR. THE NEW NEOCLASSICISM
  21. Chapter 12. Frank H. Knight–Philosopher of the Counterrevolution in Economics 193
  22. Chapter 13. Henry C. Simons–Radical Proponent of Laissez-faire 207
  23. Chapter 14. Milton Friedman–Classical Liberal as Economic Scientist 223
  24. Chapter 15. Conclusion 263
  25. Afterword: The Academic Scribblers after Twenty-Five Years 267
  26. NAME INDEX 275
  27. SUBJECT INDEX 278
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 10.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400864898.137/html?licenseType=restricted&srsltid=AfmBOoonjiqEFT2xhJSEIj22rDDXMHmnqave9n7KdeGlAq32yjoay4L3
Scroll to top button