===================== HES POSTING ==================== 
 
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a request for suggested resources for a  
study of business cycle theory that had come to the Eh.Net ASK THE PROF  
service. Here is the response I sent the student. The intro is mine,  
followed by the suggestions provided by HES subscribers. Thanks to those  
who contributed. The message is also posted on my History of Economic  
Thought FAQ page: http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~emmer/ask_the_prof.html. It  
will also appear eventually on the ASK THE PROF page developed by Eh.Net.  
-- RBE 
 
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While there were previous discussions of business cycles (e.g., Marx), the  
topic moved to the forefront of economic discussion in the 1920s, and  
became very important during the 1930s. What distinguished this  
discussion from earlier ones was its explicit attempt to construct  
cylce theory within an equilibrium context (with the possible exception  
of American institutionalists such as Wesley Mitchell). Keynes' 1936 book  
changed the focus of the discussion; because it was not a cycle theory,  
but did mount a challenge to equilibrium theory, _The General Theory_  
created a new debate over equilibrium theory, and also provided a new  
theoretical framework in which to pursue business cycle theory. 
 
Several of the history of economic thought textbooks include chapters on  
the business cycle theorists of the 1920s and 1930s. See especially Ingrid  
Rima, _Development of Economic Analysis_, 5th ed. 
 
One obvious place to begin is with Kyun Kim's *Equilibrium Business  
Cycle Theory in Historical Perspective*, 1988, in Cambridge Unversity 
Press's series Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics.  
This book grew out of a Duke University doctoral dissertation. (from E.  
Roy Weintraub) 
 
David Glasner, ed., _Business Cycles and Depressions: An Encyclopedia_, New 
York and London: Garland Publishing, 1997, includes many articles on 
business cycle theory and its history, with useful bibliographies. (from  
Bob Dimand) 
 
For a thorough summary of the various views up to 1927, see Alvin H. 
Hansen _Business Cycle Theory, its development and present status_. 
Boston:  Ginn and Co., 1927.  Thereafter, see the various Mitchell 
publications, particularly his last book _What Happens During Business 
Cycles, A Progress Report_ NBER 1951. (from Perry Mehrling) 
 
I would recommend Brian Snowdon, Howard Vane, and Peter Warnarczyk's 
very clear and wide ranging _A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics_ for a  
general account of the contemporary history of business cycle theory since 
Keynes and The General Theory.  The book is exceptional in treating most of 
the leading rival explanatory strategies in business cycle theory. The 
volume also contains about a dozen interviews with many of the leading 
figures in field over the last half century. [Brian Snowdon, Howard Vane,  
and Peter Warnarczyk's, _A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics_, Aldershot:   
Edward Elgar, 1994.] (from Greg Ransom) 
 
Important names for the 1920s and 1930s: Ralph George Hawtrey, Dennis  
Robertson, Friedrich A. von Hayek, Alvin Hansen, Wesley Mitchell, Gustav  
Cassel, Joseph A. Schumpeter, Knut Wicksell, J.M. Keynes, and the  
Stockholm School. All of these have entries in the _New Palgrave  
Dictionary of Economics_ available in your library. See also the entries  
there on business cycles, overinvestment, underconsumption, and Lindahl  
equilibrium. 
 
 
Ross B. Emmett                Editor, HES and CIRLA-L 
Augustana University College 
e-mail: [log in to unmask] 
URL: http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~emmer 
 
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