Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: The demand for profitability and social welfare are not identical. If they were, the economy would be in harmony. To Knut Wicksell it was obvious that this was not the case. Although in principle positive towards the market economy and free competition, he never closed his eyes to the fact that competitive equilibrium was not a social optimum. When Walras and Pareto ascribed to the market economy the property of giving a maximum of social utility, Wicksell therefore felt he had to react. This essay depicts the evolution of Wicksell's critique of the Lausanne School version of harmony economics. It will be shown that their difference of views to a large extent hinged on contrary views of the possibilities of making interpersonal comparisons of utility and dissimilar general social and political philosophies.
Author: Lars Pålsson Syll
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1985990343