>In particular, I am confused as to how post keynesian theorists
>insist on both the endogeneity of the money supply (that is, the Fed
>is obliged to supply the quantity of money that is demanded by
>economic agents) while elevating the Fed to the key, autonomous
>institution in the determination of the performance of the
>macroeconomy.
There's more than one kind of endogenist. Quoting myself from Wall Street:
>Robert Pollin (1991; 1993) usefully divided the two major schools of
>post-Keynesian endogenists into the accommodative and the
>structural. Accommodative endogeneity holds that the central bank
>has no choice but to validate private credit demand by providing
>whatever reserves the banking system needs to accommodate the loans
>that it has already made; that means there is no effective
>constraint on credit. Leading proponents of this school include
>Nicholas Kaldor and Basil Moore. Structural endogeneity - the branch
>that appeals to both Pollin and me - holds that central bank
>attempts to constrain the growth of credit are frequently evaded
>through creative finance.
Though not always; clearly a central bank isn't powerless, and the paths of evasion aren't limitless.
>At any rate, are state institutions best understood as working
>directly *at the behest* of the capitalist class or blocs of capital
>which have achieved hegemony over others blocs of capital; or as
>responding to more *systematic pressures* (so in this case perhaps
>maintainence of confidence in the dollar as a world currency)?
All the above, I'd say.
It's interesting to watch Bush in action. A few weeks ago, Biz Week complained that he was pushing a small business agenda more than big (death tax repeal, deregulation). You also see an outsized influence for natural resource industries (ANWR, arsenic in the water). Also, he & the Republican right have been criticizing the Fed's slowness to loosen more than the Dems ever would dare. And, his people have said they won't play the international IMF rescue/bailout game either, though whether they'll stick with this in a crisis is anyone's guess (and mine is they won't).
Doug