Axel Leijonhufvud: A personal recollection from an Austrian perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/17888Keywords:
Axel Leijonhufvud, obituaries, Neo-Keynesian economics, Austrian School of Economics, disequilibrium, inflationAbstract
Professor Axel Leijonhufvud passed away few months ago, at the age of 89. Despite the fact that the contribution he made to economics has been widely recognized, his approach remains ‘problematic’ because of his dialogue and proximity with different streams of thought, and in particular with the Austrian School. This short recollection, developed from an Austrian perspective, touches only briefly on Leijonhufvud’s hybrid interpretation of the Great Recession. More space is instead devoted to analysing his institutional approach to the phenomenon of inflation and its link with monetary policy and monetary regimes. Some reflections are focused on the importance of microfoundations and of studying the market process as a process of inter-temporal coordination, with a final call for humility within the economics profession.
References
Alchian A.A. (1976), “Problems of rising prices”, in Benjamin D.K. (ed.), The Collected Works of Armen A. Alchian, Vol. 1: Choice and Cost Under Uncertainty, 2006, Indianapolis, IN, pp. 253-273.
Bordo M.D. and Jonung L. (1994), “Monetary Regimes, Inflation and Monetary Reform: An Essay in Honor of Axel Leijonhufvud”, Working Papers, n. 1994-07, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
Cagan P. (1956), “The monetary dynamics of hyperinflation”, in Friedman M. (ed.), Studies in the quantity theory of money, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 25-117.
Doescher T (2021), “The Real Story behind Inflation”, Heritage, 24 May. Available at: https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/heritage-explains/the-real-story-behind-inflation.
Ferlito C. (2011), “Sylos Labini’s Unpublished Notes on Schumpeter’s Business Cycles”, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 14 (1), pp. 88-129.
Ferlito C. (2014), “The Natural Cycle: Why Economic Fluctuations are Inevitable. A Schumpeterian Extension of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory”, Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 3, pp. 200-219.
Ferlito C. (2021), “The post-Covid economic crisis”, The Malaysian Insight, 9 May. Available at: https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/314664.
Ferlito C., Sazuki F. and Lim A.B. (2021), “Inflation, Unemployment and COVID-19 Policies: Where Is the Malaysian Economy Heading?”, CME Policy Paper, 3, Subang Jaya: MY: Center for Market Education.
Friedman M. and Friedman R.D. (1980), Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Haeffele S. and Hobson A. (2019) (eds.), The Need for Humility in Policymaking: Lessons from Regulatory Policy, London and New York: Rowan & Littlefield.
Haslag J.H. (1998), “Seigniorage Revenue and Monetary Policy: Some Preliminary Evidence”, Economic Review and Financial Policy, Third Quarter, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, pp. 10-20.
Hayek F.A. von (1929), Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1966.
Hayek F.A. von (1933), “Price Expectations, Monetary Disturbances and Malinvestments”, in Profits, Interest and Investment and Other Essays on the Theory of Industrial Fluctuations, Clifton, NJ: Augustus M. Kelley, 1975, pp. 135-156.
Hayek F.A. von (1945), “The Use of Knowledge in Society”, The American Economic Review, 35 (4), pp. 519-530.
Hayek F.A. von (1974), “The Pretence of Knowledge”, Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 11.
Hayek F.A. von (1979), “Unemployment and Monetary Policy: Government as Generator of the Business Cycle”, San Francisco, CA: Cato Institute.
Heymann D. and Leijonhufvud A. (1995), High Inflation: The Arne Ryde Memorial Lectures, Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Hicks J. (1939), Value and Capital, 2nd ed., Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1946.
Hicks J. (1973), Capital and Time: A Neo-Austrian Theory, Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Hicks J. (1976), “Some questions of time in economics”, in Tang A.M., Westfield F.M. and Worley J.S. (eds.), Evolution, welfare, and time in economics, Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, pp. 135-151.
Howitt P. (2002), “Axel Leijonhufvud – On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes: A Study in Monetary Theory”, in Greffe X., Lallement J. and De Vroey M. (eds.), Dictionaire des grandes oeuvres économiques, Paris: Dalloz, pp. 280-288.
Korosteleva J. (2007), “Maximizing Seigniorage and Inflation Tax: The Case of Belarus”, Eastern European Economics, 45 (3), pp. 33-50, DOI: 10.2753/EEE0012-8775450302.
Lachmann L.M. (1973), “Macro-Economic Thinking and the Market Economy: An Essay on the Neglect of the Micro-Foundations and its Consequences”, London: The Institute of Economic Affairs.
Lachmann L.M. (1976), “From Mises to Shackle: An Essay on Austrian Economics and the Kaleidic Society”, Journal of Economic Literature, 14 (1), pp. 54-62.
Laidler D. (2006), “Axel Leijonhufvud and the Quest for Micro-foundations – Some Reflections”, EPRI Working Papers, n. 2006-3, London, Ontario: Economic Policy Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario.
Leijonhufvud A. (1973), “Life among the Econ”, in Information and Coordination: Essays in Macroeconomic Theory, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981, pp. 347-359.
Leijonhufvud A. (1975), “Costs and Consequences of Inflation”, UCLA Economics Working Papers, n. 58, UCLA Department of Economics.
Leijonhufvud A. (1979), “The Wicksell Connection: Variations on a Theme”, in Information and Coordination: Essays in Macroeconomic Theory, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981, pp. 131-202.
Leijonhufvud A. (1998), “Three items for the macroeconomics agenda”, Kyklos, 51, pp. 197-218.
Leijonhufvud A. (2001), “Monetary Theory and Central Banking”, in Leijonhufvud A. (ed.), Monetary Theory as a Basis for Monetary Policy, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-27.
Leijonhufvud A. (2008), “Keynes and the Crisis”, CEPR Policy Insight, n. 23, London: Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Leijonhufvud A. (2009), “Out of the corridor: Keynes and the crisis”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33 (4), pp. 741-757.
Meacci F. and Ferlito C. (2018), “The classical roots of the Austrian theory of capital and entrepreneurship”, The Review of Austrian Economics, 31, pp. 315-339.
Minsky H.P. (1982), Can “It” Happen Again? Essays on Instability and Finance, London and New York: Routledge, 2016.
Minsky H.P. (2008), Stabilizing an Unstable Economy, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mises L. von (1912), The Theory of Money and Credit, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1980.
Mises L. von (1936), “The ‘Austrian‘ Theory of the Trade Cycle”, in Ebeling R.M. (ed.), The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1980, pp. 25-35.
Nardi Spiller C. (1996), Il passato prossimo della teoria economica nel dopo Keynes, Padua: CEDAM.
Prychitko D.L. (2010), “Competing Explanations of the Minsky Moment: The Financial Instability Hypothesis in Light of Austrian Theory”, The Review of Austrian Economics, 23, pp. 199-221.
Prychitko D.L. (2016), “Foreword”, in Ferlito C. (ed.), Hermeneutics of Capital. A Post-Austrian Theory for a Kaleidic World, New York: Nova Science, pp. VII-IX.
Robinson J. (1974), “History versus equilibrium”, in Collected Economic Papers, V, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1979, pp. 48-58.
Schumpeter J.A. (1939), Business Cycles: A Theoretical, Historical and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process, Chevy Chase and Mansfield Centre: Bartleby’s Books and Martino Publishing, 2005.
Shackle G.L.S. (1972), Epistemics and Economics: A critique of economic doctrines, New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2009.
Snowdon B. (2004), “Outside the Mainstream: An Interview with Axel Leijonhufvud”, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 8 (01), pp. 117-145.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Carmelo Ferlito
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
