Joan Robinson abjured the label of Marxist because she rejected both the labor theory of value and dialectics, having described herself as an old fashion English empiricist. Nevertheless, she was very much influenced by Marxism. In an essay of hers that I once came across, she said that the three economists who had the most influence upon her were Alfred Marshall, John Maynard Keynes, and Karl Marx. Actually, I would have no problem calling her a Marxist, since, especially in her later work, she drew so heavily from the Marxian tradition and was a confirmed socialist. Arguably, her views weren't too far from people who were calling themselves Analytical Marxists back in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of those people, too, rejected the labor theory of value and dialectics, but still saw themselves as working within the Marxian tradition both in their theoretical work and in their politics,
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math
---------- Original Message ---------- From: michael perelman <michael.perelman3 at gmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Open Letter from a Keynesian to a Marxist by Joan Robinson Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:20:38 -0700
I know of one Joan Robinson fan.
Around 1968, after meeting with Chairman Mao, Joan Robinson came to Berkeley, where she gave a catty put down to a Dale Jorgensen, probably the least popular economics faculty member. Disappointed that I missed that session, I contacted her and got to spend an afternoon with her. At the time, I was pretty disgusted with my graduate training and had even considered dropping out. After spending time with Joan Robinson, the thought never entered my mind again.
She was not of Marxist, but she irritated conventional economists no end. She was responsible for putting the Cambridge Controversy on the table and making people like Samuelson and Solow recognize the flimsiness of their theories.
Today, I suspected she would cause even more discomfort among those who deserve the most. She probably has the greatest following among post keynesians, although I don't think that she would identify with them.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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