In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter presents a general picture of developments in monetary theory and in the theory of financial markets, beginning with the monetarist approach. The transition in the policy field from domination of the Keynesian to domination of the monetarist approach is then illustrated. The theory of efficient financial markets is then considered, from the Modigliani–Miller theorem to Fama’s contribution. A section is devoted to various issues in the theory of financial markets and institutions, as an introduction to Minsky’s ‘truly Keynesian’ analysis of financial markets and their fragility as the repeated origin of crises. Finally, Minsky's idea of a new stage in the development of capitalism, the so-called money managers capitalism, is recalled.

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter discusses post-Keynesian macroeconomics: the Cambridge tradition and the new Cambridge school. Some of the main protagonists are considered separately: Kalecki, Kaldor Kahn, Joan Robinson and others. The debate on the interpretations of Keynes is then recalled, as well as the debate on the theory of capital and the critique of the marginalist value theory. Kaldor’s and Pasinetti’s post–Keynesian (or ‘Cambridge’) theory of distribution is then illustrated, as well as the developments of the different ‘Sraffian schools’ with the aim of constructing a renewed classical approach. In this direction, some suggestions for a classical–Keynesian synthesis are provided.

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter provides a brief illustration of Wicksell and the Swedish school, Veblen and his institutionalism, Weber and his method, Schumpeter and his notions of statics and dynamics, Keynes and his views on probability and uncertainty as well as on finance and employment

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter provides a general introduction to the book, illustrating the choices on which it is based.

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter illustrates the development of the neoclassical synthesis, from Hicks to Modigliani; its appropriation of the Phillips curve, some Marshallian varieties of the neoclassical synthesis, the developments of growth theory since Solow’s model, stressing the theoretical limits of these developments. A brief appendix synthetically provides an algebraic representation of these developments, while stressing their limits. A final section surveys the variegated field of development analysis.

In the framework of a critical illustration of the contemporary history of economics, this chapter considers applied economics, econometrics, input–output analysis, descriptive statistics and statistical indicators, the theory of market regulation, market creation and auctions, the variegated history of energy economics from the Hotelling theorem to trilateral oligopoly and the Malthusian Club of Rome thesis of resource scarcity, the different approaches to environmental economics.

Under what condition do firms begin to develop a significant degree of relative business autonomy, not only from the state in question but also from other aspects of capital (including the subsector(s) of the economy in which they themselves function)? And when and how might business autonomy decline? This concluding chapter summarises the evidence presented by the book’s case studies and considers this against comparative cases, including a more systematic review of the emergence of business autonomy in India during the independence era. The emergence of a relatively autonomous business class in India amidst that country’s struggle for independence provides a number of parallels to the South African case. In both countries, the business community was torn between conflicting impulses and factions: those who benefitted from the status quo, and those who saw their longer-term interests as aligned instead with a nationalist struggle and hence with anticolonial interests, even if this struggle presented new and different threats from a growing radical left wing.

The comparisons highlight first, the incentives that may prompt business to develop an encompassing conception of its own interests; and second, the process by which norms and ideas can become entrenched in the practice of business by being repeatedly performed over time.

Examines the private sector response to a period of intense political violence centred on a struggle for control of the state in Kenya and South Africa respectively. In each case, key political elites at the heart of the state were implicated in this violence and this was therefore a high-risk area for business to venture into. Nonetheless, in South Africa, certain business leaders came to understand the need to confront and nudge the apartheid state towards political reform because they feared that their business interests might be wiped out in a racialised political conflict. On a practical level, the centralised and concentrated nature of South African capital also made it easier for business to organise, as did the overall nature of the institutions that structured the relationship between the country’s predominantly white political elites and its majority black population.

Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda and Kenya in the 1980s and 1990s elicited dramatically different responses from those two governments, the response from the private sector in the region was remarkably consistent. In short, there were striking similarities in how the business sector responded – or, for the most part, failed to respond in both East African countries. There were relatively few constructive responders over all. Much of the explanation for this has to do with the nature of these political economies and the firms that predominate: mostly small to medium-sized and many operating in agriculture and the services sub-sectors, areas of the economy in which it may be difficult for business to organize collectively. Finally, a very large number of Kenyans and Ugandans either work fort themselves or are employed in the informal sectors and hence the relationship between labour and big business is very different from what presents in Southern Africa.