Vienneau, Robert (2026): The Production of Commodities and the Structure of Production.
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Abstract
Consider a model of the production of commodities by means of commodities. This article illustrates how to construct a Hayekian triangle with such a model, in the case with circulating capital. Capital-theory paradoxes, specifically the reswitching of techniques, have implications for such triangles. The use of such triangles to tell the stories that Austrian economists want to tell cannot be sustained. The switch point that is normal in a reswitching example, from a mainstream neoclassical perspective, has perverse Hayekian triangles. The switch point that is perverse from a mainstream perspective has Hayekian triangles consistent with the Austrian story about how a decreased time preference rotates the triangle to lengthen the structure of production.
| Item Type: | MPRA Paper |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | The Production of Commodities and the Structure of Production |
| English Title: | The Production of Commodities and the Structure of Production |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Cambridge Capital Controversy; Hayekian Triangles; Reswitching of techniques |
| Subjects: | B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B51 - Socialist ; Marxian ; Sraffian B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B53 - Austrian C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods ; Programming Models ; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling > C67 - Input-Output Models D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D24 - Production ; Cost ; Capital ; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity ; Capacity E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates > E43 - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects |
| Item ID: | 128751 |
| Depositing User: | Mr. Robert Vienneau |
| Date Deposited: | 15 May 2026 15:06 |
| Last Modified: | 15 May 2026 15:06 |
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| URI: | https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/128751 |

