The Coherency of Money, Profit, Price, and Distribution

Abstract

When anything goes and nothing fits together this can be euphemized as pluralism. Lacking a common point of reference, discussions between various schools of economic thought proceed in the ‘hyperspace of assumptions’ (Mc Closkey). The incoherency of perspectives is due to self-chosen foundational assumptions. The present paper submits three structural axioms as formal core that is neutral with regard to assumptions about behavior. The objective is to clarify the interrelation of four elementary concepts and to eliminate some logical inconsistencies. Neither neoclassicals nor Keynesians came to grips with the relation between profit and the distribution of the real product.

Keywords: new framework of concepts, structure-centric, axiom set, formal core, axiom of reals, real shares of output, spending pattern

JEL Classification: B41