2025/05/09 by Harvey Gram · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Political Economy and Marxism #Economic Theory and Institutions
paper · doi:10.1080/09538259.2025.2473420
openalex publication_date 2025/05/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
Petri’s focus on income distribution as determinative of equilibrium in any model of a capitalistic economy is contrasted with the more familiar neoclassical argument that income distribution is derivative from the equilibrium prices of final goods and services. His concept of self-intensive demand is examined with a view to isolating the case of a continuum of supply and demand solutions, with more self-intensive demand resulting in multiple solutions. The possibility of downward sloping general equilibrium supply curves, not addressed by Petri, is illustrated with examples based on the work of Metcalfe and Steedman. A final note addresses the enduring question of the importance for neoclassical theory of the notion of capital as factor of production with a given value, variable in form. A brief conclusion suggests that too great a focus on an equilibrium of mutually compatible choices has drawn attention away from an evolutionary analysis of connections and interactions as the basis for a more fruitful microeconomic theory.