Lachmann on the Cambridge Capital Controversies

There is a post here on a paper of Lachmann concerning the Cambridge Capital Controversies:

Isaac Marmolejo, “Lachmann’s Quick Comment on The Cambridge Capital Debate,” March 2, 2012.

An interesting observation of Lachmann on the debate:

“Everybody seems to agree today that the stock of capital cannot be measured outside equilibrium, viz. outside entirely artificial conditions. But there are two reasons for it of which we may call one the ‘Ricardian’ or ‘objectivist’, the other the ‘Austrian’ or ‘subjectivist’ reason. We may also say that the one is ‘backward looking’, the other ‘forward looking’. The former rests on the fact that any change in the mode of income distribution, in rate of profit or wage rate, will affect relative prices and thus deprive us of any solid yardstick. It is particularly germane to any view of capital which links the present value of capital resources to their current cost of reproduction, a ‘backward looking’ view.” (Lachmann 1994: 194).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lachmann, L. M. 1994. “Reflections on Hayekian Capital Theory,” in D. Lavoie (ed.), Expectations and the Meaning of Institutions: Essays in Economics, Routledge, London. 193–206.