Keynes’s Missing Axioms

Abstract

Between Keynes’s verbalized theory and its formal basis persists a lacuna. The conceptual groundwork is too small and not general. The quest for a comprehensive formal basis is guided by the question: what is the minimum set of foundational propositions for a consistent reconstruction of the monetary economy? We start with three structural axioms. The claim of generality entails that it should be possible to prove that Keynes’s formalism is a subset of the structural axiom set. The axioms are applied to a central part of the General Theory in order to achieve consistency and generality.

Keywords: new framework of concepts, structure-centric, axiom set, full employment, emergent money, singularity, system immanent risk, profit, distributed profit, saving, investment, Allais-Identity

JEL Classification: B41, E12, E24, E25, E31, E40, H60, P10