Modern Classical Economics and Reality

Abstract

The salient feature of this book is to show the theoretical relevance and empirical significance of the classical theory of value and income distribution formulated by the old classical economists and Karl Marx and further advanced by the writings of Piero Sraffa as well as by modern followers of the classical tradition. The classical theory includes in its explanatory dataset the real wage(s) and the state of technol- ogy, which are both measurable variables and can be obtained through the available input–output and national income accounts data. As a consequence, by using data readily available in national or international organizations, one can estimate the uniform profit rate and the competitive (‘long-period’) relative prices for actual economies.