Subject: | |
From: | |
Date: | Mon Mar 5 13:26:15 2007 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
There are a few imprecisions among Steve Kates's claims.
Haberler was NOT hired by the League in 1930. He was contacted at the
beginning of December 1933, and started working in Geneva on 1 March
1934.
He could therefore not have published in 1935 (in spite of having
proceeded prodigiously swiftly). By August of that year he had
managed to write a first draft of the analysis of theories (50 pages
typescript), which he elaborated into a much bigger typescript by
June 1936. The final version was published, under much pressure by
the League for accelerating the editing (meanwhile Haberler had moved
to Harvard and was held up by his new commitments).
Moreover, the purpose of the book was not that of dealing with ALL
the business cycle theories that had been produced, but only those
current at his time. This is explicitly stated.
Haberler's statement cited by Kates was pronounced in very similar
terms by Aftalion and espeially Mitchell, both in 1913--the only
missing term being "complete unanimity", but the substance is the
same; Mitchell uses the expression "substantial agreement". The
critical target of Haberler, and Mitchell and Aftalion and scores of
other writers before them, beginning (at least) from J.-E. Briaune in
1840 and passing from Coquelin, Juglar, Mills, Jevons etc., was the
earlier approach to crises, which focused on crises taken in
isolation rather than as a succession of related events, which was
the 'classical' (and mainstream until the end of the XIX century)
approach to economic disturbances.
Daniele Besomi
|
|
|