Theory of Economic Dynamics

In his Essays in the Theory of Business Cycle published in Polish in 1933, Kalecki clearly stated the principle of effective demand in mathematical form. By 1935 he outlined his theory of employment, demolished the then-orthodox remedy for a depression—that is, wage cutting—and pinpointed the importance of investment for economic dynamics.

Thus, although his training had been in Marxist economics, he succeeded in anticipating the Keynesian system, and, as Joan Robinson has pointed out, his claim to priority of publication is indisputable although he never mentioned this fact.

Theory of Economic Dynamics is a reworking by the author of two previous books, Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations and Studies in Economic Dynamics. As the author points out, in combining two books the presentation and the argument were substantially revised, new subjects were introduced, and the statistical treatment broadened.

Michal Kalecki (1899-1970) was born in Lodz, Poland. He was associated with the prewar Warsaw Institute of Research on Business Cycles and Prices, the Oxford Institute of Statistics, the United Nations Secretariat, and taught at the Polish Central School of Planning and Statistics and at Warsaw University. In addition he studied and lectured at various Western universities, including the London School of Economics and Cambridge University. The translation to English was accomplished by the author himself, just before his death in April 1970.