John Kenneth Galbraith and the Post Keynesian Tradition in Economics

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the key contributions of John Kenneth Galbraith to economics and puts them into an historical context. It argues that the work of Galbraith should be recognized as making major contributions to the Post Keynesian paradigm. His work expands on the contributions made by John Maynard Keynes and is consistent with the main ideas of Post Keynesian thought. Much of his work can be thought of as a Post Keynesian microeconomics that needs to be added on to the Post Keynesian macroeconomics begun by Keynes. This work encompasses an understanding of how people behave and how firms behave, a recognition of the importance of uncertainty in the real world, and an emphasis on income effects being more important than substitution effects. The paper then points out how Galbraith has provided a Post Keynesian approach to key macroeconomic issues. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the other articles that make up this special issue to honor John Kenneth Galbraith on the hundredth anniversary of his birth.