Strategic Competition, Dynamics, and the Role of the State: A New Perspective

183 Pages·2010·1.02 MB·English

by  Jamee K. Moudud

Strategic Competition, Dynamics, and the
Role of the State
NEW DIRECTIONS IN MODERN ECONOMICS
Series Editor: Malcolm C. Sawyer, Professor of Economics, University of
Leeds, UK
New Directions in Modern Economics presents a challenge to orthodox
economic thinking. It focuses on new ideas emanating from radical traditions
including post-Keynesian, Kaleckian, neo-Ricardian and Marxian. The
books in the series do not adhere rigidly to any single school of thought but
attempt to present a positive alternative to the conventional wisdom.
For a full list of Edward Elgar published titles, including the titles in
this series, visit our website at www.e-elgar.com.
Strategic Competition,
Dynamics, and the
Role of the State
A New Perspective
Jamee K. Moudud
Economics Faculty, Sarah Lawrence College, New York,
USA
Foreword by Anwar M. Shaikh
NEW DIRECTIONS IN MODERN ECONOMICS
Edward Elgar
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Jamee K. Moudud 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
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Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940633
ISBN 978 1 84542 923 2
Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK
2
0
To Shanaz, Laila, and Aliya
and
My Parents
With all my love

Contents
Foreword Anwar M. Shaikh x
Acknowledgments xii
1 Introduction 1
2 The microfoundations of long- run growth: controversies on
capacity utilization and competition 10
Introduction 10
Ex ante versus ex post idle capacity 10
Rival theories of competition and their implications for
capacity utilization 15
The persistence of excess capacity: Sraffi an and Kaleckian
approaches 32
Conclusion 42
Appendix 51
3 A review of the literature on growth 53
Introduction 53
Neoclassical growth models 53
Heterodox growth models 63
Conclusion 72
4 A model of disequilibrium dynamics 77
Introduction 77
Disequilibrium dynamics in an SFC context 77
Conclusion 98
Appendix 1 100
Appendix 2 106
5 Warranted growth and the role of the State 113
Introduction 113
Harrod’s policy insights: solutions to ambiguities and
contradictions 116
Conclusion 122
vii
viii Strategic competition, dynamics, and the role of the State
Appendix 1 126
Appendix 2 130
6 Conclusion: the relevance of microfoundations and politics 132
References 142
Index 161
Economic privation proceeds by easy stages, and so long as men suff er it
patiently the outside world cares little. Physical effi ciency and resistance to
disease slowly diminish, but life proceeds somehow, until the limit of human
endurance is reached at last and counsels of despair and madness stir the suff er-
ers from the lethargy which precedes the crisis. Then man shakes himself, and
the bonds of custom are loosed. The power of ideas is sovereign, and he listens
to whatever instruction of hope, illusion, or revenge is carried to him on the
air. . .But who can say how much is endurable, or in what direction men will
seek at last to escape from their misfortunes?
– Keynes, J.M. (1920),The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Harcourt,
Brace, and Howe, pp. 250–51.