the debate on the Under-Consumption Crises in Classical Political Economy

Abstract

The debate on the under-consumption crises of the early nineteenth century between Ricardo, Say, Sismondi and Malthus, gives rise to two traditions of economic thought that continue to oppose to the present: one based on the principle of stability and self-regulation of markets and the other based on the principle of inequality between production, income and expenditure aggregates. For the first, full employment of productive factors and economic progress are guaranteed by the principles of laissez faire, while the latter warns of the need for political control over the economy to achieve them. this paper proposes a tour of the ideas and writings of the leading figures who participated in the original debate.

JEL classification: B1