Ajit Sinha - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ajit Sinha
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition, 2019
Theories of Value from Adam Smith to Piero Sraffa, 2018
Class analysis and radical social theories - discovering the missing link, Alvin Y. So Marx and a... more Class analysis and radical social theories - discovering the missing link, Alvin Y. So Marx and activity, John O'Manique economic structure and technological change - Marx and beyond, Ross Thomson exploitation and racial inequality - the US case, Gary A. Dymski Maurice Dobb - between a Marxist and a Smith interpretation of the transition to capitalism, Ricardo Duchesne Lenin and the socialist transition in Russia, James Lawler a critique of Part One of "Capital" Vol. 1 - the value controversy revisited, Ajit Sinha on post-Keynesian and Marxist approaches to labour values, Angelo Reati on Kalecki as a Marxist, Bruce McFarlane the Sraffa tradition, Giorgio Lunghini Sraffa and the concept of capital as totality, Graziani Napoleoni Sraffa in context, Riccardo Bellofiore.
The Indian Economic Journal, 2021
As the question of appropriation of the surplus value is independent of the question of economic ... more As the question of appropriation of the surplus value is independent of the question of economic valuation of it, Sraffa succeeds in removing the conflation between the problem of production of the surplus product and its appropriation, which, it is argued, sits at the core of the discrepancy between Marx’s physics of production and his metaphysics of human labour. JEL Codes: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
L’Inflazione Monetaria in Italia durante e dopo la guerra was the first major publication by Sraf... more L’Inflazione Monetaria in Italia durante e dopo la guerra was the first major publication by Sraffa on economic matters. This was written in 1920, when Sraffa was barely twenty two years old, as his dissertation for the law degree he obtained from the University of Turin. It was written in Italian and was 64 pages long in typed scripts. A highly noteworthy feature of this dissertation is the author’s style of writing. It is written with such authority as befits the world masters of the subject—a feature that remains constant in all his subsequent writings. This is even more remarkable given the fact that Sraffa, by all accounts, was never an outstanding student and that economics was not his major area of study. The dissertation, however, was well appreciated and was awarded the distinction of appearing as an official publication of the University of Turin. Marcello de Cecco, in his ‘Introduction’ to the English translation of the dissertation, reports that the ‘oral tradition has it that Sraffa succeeded in convincing him [Sraffa’s thesis director, the legendary Luigi Einaudi] that bringing the lira back to pre-war gold parity was wrong’ (1993, p. 1).
Towards a New Understanding of Sraffa
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2001
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2010
quantitative data as well as formal mathematics could also be considered another weakness. While ... more quantitative data as well as formal mathematics could also be considered another weakness. While I have no desire to equate rigor with quantification and mathematics when discussing affinities between self-organization theory and dialectics, if the discussion is not to remain at the level of metaphors and analogies, mathematical models may be a necessary extension. The wish-list in the concluding chapter is to be lauded for its comprehension but would obviously require an intense and global level of political action. There is little discussion in the book of such politics, particularly, given the book’s Global North focus, politics of the type which seeks to challenge the “North-South divide.” Lastly, I found a plethora of typos, grammatical errors, and awkward sentence constructions which a good job of copyediting should take care of, and I would strongly advise the publishers to do this as the errors are frequent enough to be distracting. All said the book is a very stimulating read and I highly recommend it.
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2012
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition, 2019
1. Introduction: Environment and Development 2. Environmental Consequences of Liberalisation in S... more 1. Introduction: Environment and Development 2. Environmental Consequences of Liberalisation in Small Open Economies 3. Institutional Evolution and the Environmental Kuznets Curve 4. Environmental Degradation: Bridging the Gap in EKC Literature 5. Disentangling the Climate-Development Gordian Knot: Towards an Integrated Blueprint 6. A Future for the Kyoto Protocol? 7. Estimating Environmentally Sustainable Industrial Development: A Study of Thermal Power Generation 8. Sustainable Development and Public Goods 9. Smallholders and the Forest Logging Industry in the Brazilian Amazon 10. Bio-diesel as Alternative Fuel 11. The Jevon's Paradox and the Evolution of Complex Adaptive Systems
Marx, Engels, and Marxisms, 2019
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition
This paper argues that Samuelson's criticisms of Sraffa mainly concentrated on Sraffa's claim tha... more This paper argues that Samuelson's criticisms of Sraffa mainly concentrated on Sraffa's claim that the propositions of his book (Sraffa 1960) did not depend on the assumption of constant returns to scale. Garegnani's defence of Sraffa against Samuelson's criticisms remained ineffective because Garegnani's own interpretation of Sraffa's prices as classical 'centre of gravitation' or 'long term' prices requires constant returns to scale assumption. The paper goes on to critique Garegnani's interpretation of Sraffa and the classical economics to show that Garegnani's interpretation of Sraffa and the classical economics is highly problematic and that Samuelson's criticism of Sraffa does not hit the target because Sraffa's prices are not necessarily 'equilibrium' prices and therefore there is no need of returns to scale assumption in his theory.
Theories of Value from Adam Smith to Piero Sraffa
Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics
ABSTRACT This article highlights some of Sraffa’s main contributions to the methodology of econom... more ABSTRACT This article highlights some of Sraffa’s main contributions to the methodology of economics. It argues that Sraffa rejected counterfactual reasoning and hence the ‘marginal method’ of analysis. Sraffa’s theory is built solely on factual and objective information and hence it removes psychology from economics as well. Sraffa’s theory shows that considerations of demand and the condition of equilibrium of demand and supply are irrelevant to a logical theory of prices. The article goes on to show how Sraffa’s novel approach to economic theory was able to expose the logical errors of ‘marginal method’ in the Austrian and Neo-classical theories of distribution. Finally, it also raises some questions for Sraffa’s theory that need to be resolved.
History of Economics Review, 1997
... to this definition, is a productive labourer if he works' in the service'of... more ... to this definition, is a productive labourer if he works' in the service'ofacapitalist .::" [TSV'l, ch:IV.3rp-157]ris given to buttress this claim.4 ... A Note on Marx's Critique of Adam Smtk 127 distinct form of that labour on which is based the whole capitalist mode of production and capital ...
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition, 2019
Theories of Value from Adam Smith to Piero Sraffa, 2018
Class analysis and radical social theories - discovering the missing link, Alvin Y. So Marx and a... more Class analysis and radical social theories - discovering the missing link, Alvin Y. So Marx and activity, John O'Manique economic structure and technological change - Marx and beyond, Ross Thomson exploitation and racial inequality - the US case, Gary A. Dymski Maurice Dobb - between a Marxist and a Smith interpretation of the transition to capitalism, Ricardo Duchesne Lenin and the socialist transition in Russia, James Lawler a critique of Part One of "Capital" Vol. 1 - the value controversy revisited, Ajit Sinha on post-Keynesian and Marxist approaches to labour values, Angelo Reati on Kalecki as a Marxist, Bruce McFarlane the Sraffa tradition, Giorgio Lunghini Sraffa and the concept of capital as totality, Graziani Napoleoni Sraffa in context, Riccardo Bellofiore.
The Indian Economic Journal, 2021
As the question of appropriation of the surplus value is independent of the question of economic ... more As the question of appropriation of the surplus value is independent of the question of economic valuation of it, Sraffa succeeds in removing the conflation between the problem of production of the surplus product and its appropriation, which, it is argued, sits at the core of the discrepancy between Marx’s physics of production and his metaphysics of human labour. JEL Codes: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
L’Inflazione Monetaria in Italia durante e dopo la guerra was the first major publication by Sraf... more L’Inflazione Monetaria in Italia durante e dopo la guerra was the first major publication by Sraffa on economic matters. This was written in 1920, when Sraffa was barely twenty two years old, as his dissertation for the law degree he obtained from the University of Turin. It was written in Italian and was 64 pages long in typed scripts. A highly noteworthy feature of this dissertation is the author’s style of writing. It is written with such authority as befits the world masters of the subject—a feature that remains constant in all his subsequent writings. This is even more remarkable given the fact that Sraffa, by all accounts, was never an outstanding student and that economics was not his major area of study. The dissertation, however, was well appreciated and was awarded the distinction of appearing as an official publication of the University of Turin. Marcello de Cecco, in his ‘Introduction’ to the English translation of the dissertation, reports that the ‘oral tradition has it that Sraffa succeeded in convincing him [Sraffa’s thesis director, the legendary Luigi Einaudi] that bringing the lira back to pre-war gold parity was wrong’ (1993, p. 1).
Towards a New Understanding of Sraffa
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2001
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2010
quantitative data as well as formal mathematics could also be considered another weakness. While ... more quantitative data as well as formal mathematics could also be considered another weakness. While I have no desire to equate rigor with quantification and mathematics when discussing affinities between self-organization theory and dialectics, if the discussion is not to remain at the level of metaphors and analogies, mathematical models may be a necessary extension. The wish-list in the concluding chapter is to be lauded for its comprehension but would obviously require an intense and global level of political action. There is little discussion in the book of such politics, particularly, given the book’s Global North focus, politics of the type which seeks to challenge the “North-South divide.” Lastly, I found a plethora of typos, grammatical errors, and awkward sentence constructions which a good job of copyediting should take care of, and I would strongly advise the publishers to do this as the errors are frequent enough to be distracting. All said the book is a very stimulating read and I highly recommend it.
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2012
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition, 2019
1. Introduction: Environment and Development 2. Environmental Consequences of Liberalisation in S... more 1. Introduction: Environment and Development 2. Environmental Consequences of Liberalisation in Small Open Economies 3. Institutional Evolution and the Environmental Kuznets Curve 4. Environmental Degradation: Bridging the Gap in EKC Literature 5. Disentangling the Climate-Development Gordian Knot: Towards an Integrated Blueprint 6. A Future for the Kyoto Protocol? 7. Estimating Environmentally Sustainable Industrial Development: A Study of Thermal Power Generation 8. Sustainable Development and Public Goods 9. Smallholders and the Forest Logging Industry in the Brazilian Amazon 10. Bio-diesel as Alternative Fuel 11. The Jevon's Paradox and the Evolution of Complex Adaptive Systems
Marx, Engels, and Marxisms, 2019
A Revolution in Economic Theory, 2016
Essays on Theories of Value in the Classical Tradition
This paper argues that Samuelson's criticisms of Sraffa mainly concentrated on Sraffa's claim tha... more This paper argues that Samuelson's criticisms of Sraffa mainly concentrated on Sraffa's claim that the propositions of his book (Sraffa 1960) did not depend on the assumption of constant returns to scale. Garegnani's defence of Sraffa against Samuelson's criticisms remained ineffective because Garegnani's own interpretation of Sraffa's prices as classical 'centre of gravitation' or 'long term' prices requires constant returns to scale assumption. The paper goes on to critique Garegnani's interpretation of Sraffa and the classical economics to show that Garegnani's interpretation of Sraffa and the classical economics is highly problematic and that Samuelson's criticism of Sraffa does not hit the target because Sraffa's prices are not necessarily 'equilibrium' prices and therefore there is no need of returns to scale assumption in his theory.
Theories of Value from Adam Smith to Piero Sraffa
Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics
ABSTRACT This article highlights some of Sraffa’s main contributions to the methodology of econom... more ABSTRACT This article highlights some of Sraffa’s main contributions to the methodology of economics. It argues that Sraffa rejected counterfactual reasoning and hence the ‘marginal method’ of analysis. Sraffa’s theory is built solely on factual and objective information and hence it removes psychology from economics as well. Sraffa’s theory shows that considerations of demand and the condition of equilibrium of demand and supply are irrelevant to a logical theory of prices. The article goes on to show how Sraffa’s novel approach to economic theory was able to expose the logical errors of ‘marginal method’ in the Austrian and Neo-classical theories of distribution. Finally, it also raises some questions for Sraffa’s theory that need to be resolved.
History of Economics Review, 1997
... to this definition, is a productive labourer if he works' in the service'of... more ... to this definition, is a productive labourer if he works' in the service'ofacapitalist .::" [TSV'l, ch:IV.3rp-157]ris given to buttress this claim.4 ... A Note on Marx's Critique of Adam Smtk 127 distinct form of that labour on which is based the whole capitalist mode of production and capital ...