Hyman Minsky's Theory of Capitalist Development

The Jerome Levy Economics Institute Working Paper No. 277

11 Pages Posted: 15 Dec 1999

See all articles by Charles J. Whalen

Charles J. Whalen

SUNY Buffalo - Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy

Date Written: August 1999

Abstract

During the last decade of his life, Hyman Minsky drew on insights acquired from Joseph Schumpeter in an effort to explore the long-term development of capitalism. He believed such an exploration would underscore the economic implications of postwar financial-system innovations and could encourage a broad discussion regarding the appropriate structure of the U.S. economy. This paper focuses on the theory of capitalist development that Minsky produced during that decade.

After describing the purposes of Minsky's exploration, his theory is outlined both in terms of its essential elements and as it applies to the U.S. economy. In addition to emphasizing the relations between finance and business, Minsky identified a transition through at least five distinct stages of capitalism: from the merchant-capitalist era to a recent period dominated by money managers. A concluding section identifies a number of research directions suggested by Minsky's analysis.

JEL Classification: N10

Suggested Citation

Whalen, Charles J., Hyman Minsky's Theory of Capitalist Development (August 1999). The Jerome Levy Economics Institute Working Paper No. 277, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=180070 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.180070

Charles J. Whalen (Contact Author)

SUNY Buffalo - Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy ( email )

School of Law
528 O'Brian Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
United States

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