Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
The New School is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Research.
http://www.jstor.org
byWillMilbergand supportfromtheProgram
•Suggestions on Markets, and Democracy,
Equality,
and theFordFoundationare gratefully
NewSchoolUniversity, acknowledged.
1. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Manyeconomistschosetheirprofession becausetheywantedto think
throughwaysto helppeople livebetter.The disciplineis groundedon
thispracticaldesire,a worldlymatter. Economicsshouldthereby be situ-
atedin thesocialcontextofthe systemit examines.Contextis a main
ingredientin structuralisteconomics,and also is centralto theworkof
Heilbroner'sgreat thinkers.
Likewise,structuralism emphasizessystem-wide analysis,aimed
at generatingproposalsforimproving economicperformance - thatis,
"policy"broadlyconstrued. In an examplediscussedlaterin thispaper,
one has to be aware of the levels and directionof the financialand
StructuralistEconomics 307
2. STRUCTURALIST MODELS
Structuralisteconomicmodels share characteristic features.A good
placeto beginis witha socialaccounting matrix (SAM)ofthesortused
bymanycontemporary tobuilda systemic
structuralists basisintotheir
models.
Table 1 is a schematicbased on a SAMemployedby Foleyand
Taylor(2004). It shows flowsof paymentsover a time period(typi-
callyone year).The authorsdistinguish sixgroupsofeconomicactors:
Changes
_ in Capital
Output
,Uses
, ofr ^ . _, -Totals
^ .
^ ^ ,Income Stocksand
Costs _. . .
Financial
Claims
Transfers
Sources of Production among Income
Income Costs Income Totals
Recipients
„ , Value of Income
Totals _ ^ ^ T ^ . Zero
Output Totals
StructuralistEconomics 309
StructuralistEconomics 311
StructuralistEconomics 313
StructuralistEconomics 315
StructuralistEconomics 317
StructuralistEconomics 319
5. CONCLUSIONS
uTheEnd oftheWorldlyPhilosophy?" the aria finaleof Heilbroner's
masterpiece, is morethana mereconclusion.Firstand foremost itis a
deliveryofresponsibilityto futuredisciplesofeconomics"byremind-
ing ourselvesof what economicsis ultimatelyabout." "Atits core
economicsis an explanationsystemwhose purposeis to enlighten
us as to the workings,and therefore to the problemsand prospects,
ofthatcomplexsocialentitywe call theeconomy"(Heilbroner, 1999:
311). Second,the closingchapterof Heilbroner'sWorldly Philosophers
StructuralistEconomics 321
NOTES
1. Thistreatment offinanceis ofcoursepost-Keynesian. Keyneshimself
postulateddemand-supply balancefor"money," withthebondinter-
estratevaryingtoclearthemarket. TheSAMformat is easilyextended
todealwiththiscase as well 2004).
(Taylor,
2. Keynes's argumentwas in fact slightlydifferentbecause he
assumedwhatwould nowadaysbe called a neoclassicalaggregate
cost functioninsteadof mark-uppricing,but the essentialswere
the same.
3. ThankstoThorsten BlockfordiscussionoftheGermanexperience.
4. Such distributivedynamicsgo back to Ricardo,who envisageda
conflictcomingout oftherelationships thatexistamongthethree
mainownersoffactorsofproduction:capitalists,landowners,and
workers.Hisgloomypresentiments didnotcomebywayofaxioms;
StructuralistEconomics 323
REFERENCES
and Demand
NelsonH., and LanceTaylor."Distributive
Barbosa-Filho,
Cyclesin theUS Economy: A Structuralist
Goodwin Model."New
York:CenterforEconomicPolicyAnalysis,NewSchoolUniversity,
2003.
Block,ThorstenH. "EconomicStagnationin WeimarGermany:A
Changeand Economic
StructuralistPerspective."Structural Dynamics
13 (2002):127-150
Chick,Victoria,and Sheila C. Dow. "Formalism,Logicand Reality:
A KeynesianAnalysis."Cambridge Journal 25 (2001):
ofEconomics
701-721.
StructuralistEconomics 325