LATEX

LATEX

Monday, April 30, 2018

Value & Capital, CHAPTER XII, Section 6

In this section, the final one of the chapter, the author relates his discussion of the determination of the rate of interest to the discussion contained in John Maynard Keynes's article "The General Theory of Employment."  The author explains that simply identifying the difficulties with computing the rate of interest is not sufficient "to decide how it is best to regard the determination of the rate of interest."  On the one hand, eliminating the money equation and determining the prices of commodities based on their supplies and demands, while determining the rate of interest by the supply and demand of loan funds, seems to be "the most natural course to pursue."  On the other hand, "we can follow Mr. Keynes in eliminating the other equation which stands out from the rest as being peculiar -- the equation of borrowing and lending, or purchase and sale of securities."

While the author goes into some detail about the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods, he states that "either of these methods is perfectly legitimate; the choice between them is purely a matter of convenience." And he concludes that "all these advantages and disadvantages are matters of opinion; there is no reason why we should commit ourselves to the regular use of one method or the other.  It is indeed very useful to have two methods to serve as a check."

The author closes the section (and the chapter) by noting that the advantage of Keynes's method is that it helps in "stressing the closeness of the connexion between money and interest."  This is the topic to which the next chapter will turn.