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- The Cambridge economic tradition and the distribution of the social surplusPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasVarious research projects in economics developed at Cambridge share common philosophical presuppositions, within what can be termed as the Cambridge economic tradition. I argue here that the Cambridge economic tradition can be distinguished from other traditions in terms of its underlying ontology, methodology and ethics, and also in terms of the way in which those philosophical presuppositions are expressed in competing theoretical approaches to the distribution of the social surplus. I also distinguish between an economic tradition and a school of economics and note that various schools have existed within the Cambridge economic tradition. The various Cambridge schools can themselves be identified in terms of the specific analytical frameworks they adopted when addressing the distribution of the social surplus.
- Reconsidering the notions of process, order and stability in VeblenPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasTony Lawson has recently provided an original assessment of the notions of process, order and stability in the writings of Thorstein Veblen, in which he attributes to Veblen an ideational conception of order, while also arguing that Veblen changed his views on the causes of stability, which in earlier writings were attributed to institutions and the ceremonial aspects of life, and in later writings are to be found in human nature. In so doing, Lawson moves away from previous interpretations of Veblen, including Lawson’s own in some respects, especially on the nature of institutions. Here I further extend Lawson’s new interpretation of Veblen in some respects, while challenging some aspects of it. In particular, I discuss whether Veblen really changed his view on the causes of stability, while proposing a generalisation of the Veblenian dichotomy.
- The place of the capability approach within sustainability economicsPublication . Martins, Nuno Miguel OrnelasThe connections between the capability approach and sustainability economics have been explored recently. I argue here that for engaging in a more substantive study of those connections, we must first understand the place of the capability approach within the history of economic thought, as a second stage of the revival of classical surplus theory. Once this is clear, we can then use the capability approach in order to specify concepts such as well-being, surplus, scarcity, and sustainable reproduction, which are essential for the development of sustainability economics.
- A transformational conception of evolutionary processesPublication . Martins, NunoThe transformational conception of social activity provides a non-deterministic framework within which evolutionary models of natural selection can be located, and constitutes an alternative to sociological and economic traditions that adopt a deterministic conception of social processes, in which the causal effects of social structures, or technology, for example, are conceptualized in a deterministic way. Natural selection processes can be conceptualized as a more specific instance of this broad (non-deterministic) transformational conception, and hence can provide additional insight whenever addressing cases where a more specific model is required.
- Some further considerations on the Sraffian MethodenstreitPublication . Martins, Nuno Ornelas
- Political aspects of the capital controversies and capitalist crisesPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasThe Cambridge controversies about the theory of capital were ultimately underpinned by a clash between two different visions of capitalism, the neoclassical view, according to which distribution depends on the supply and demand curves of capital and labor, and the post Keynesian view, according to which distribution depends on political and institutional factors instead. I shall argue that the distinction between “ meritocratic capitalism ” and “ patrimonial capitalism, ” which underpins the discussions surrounding Thomas Piketty ’ s Capital in the Twenty- First Century , is also connected to those two different visions of capitalism, which were behind the Cambridge controversies. These two visions of capitalism have important implications for our understanding of political power over workers, and also to our understanding of political power over land and its natural resources. The role of land and natural resources was not discussed in the Cambridge controversies, but is addressed in Piero Sraffa ’ s Production of Commodities , and is implied in Piketty’ s inclusion of land in his definition of capital, which brings in a geographical dimension to our understanding of capitalism and capitalist crises, as I shall argue.
- Democracia e racionalidadePublication . Martins, Nuno
- Marx e o determinismo: observações acerca de um comentário de Sampaio BrunoPublication . Martins, Nuno Miguel Ornelas
- Veblen, Sen, and the formalization of evolutionary theoryPublication . Martins, NunoIt has been suggested that economics could benefit greatly from recent developments in evolutionary game theory. In fact, key authors in the study of the role of ethical norms in economic behavior like Amartya Sen argue that evolutionary game theory could contribute much to the study of social norms and behavior. Others have suggested that evolutionary game theory could be most helpful for formalizing the work of classic authors in evolutionary and institutional economics like Thorstein Veblen. Here I discuss the behavioral assumptions of evolutionary game theory models, and Jorgen Weibull's approach in particular. I will argue that Weibull's models, and evolutionary game theory in general, pose overly strong restrictions on the explanation of human behavior, which limit the potential of evolutionary explanation. I also suggest Tony Lawson's population-variety-reproduction-selection (PVRS) model as an alternative evolutionary framework that can successfully accommodate developments in behavioral economics, while also providing a solution to important critiques of Darwinian evolutionary analysis made by Richard Nelson, among others.
- Spatial dimensions of Antonio Gramsci's contributionPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasIn this article I explore the spatial dimension of Antonio Gramsci's thinking, which possesses an innovative methodological approach to spatial analysis, within what can be termed an ethnographical or anthropological approach. Such an approach engages in an analysis of an overall form of life in each spatial context, in order to overcome the absence of statistical data that can adequately describe the socio-economic processes Gramsci is attempting to characterize. Furthermore, Gramsci's category of organic intellectual also helps bridging the gap between hegemonic forces and spatio-ethnographic context, thus helping to understand the permanent reproduction and reconfiguration of the economy and society.