Una riconsiderazione degli studi di Kalecki sull’economia statunitense

Kalecki devised a novel method of analysis, which was also used by some of his collaborators. Unfortunately however, that method has not had the impact it deserves on applied research, not even among his followers. The objective of the present paper is to revisit Kalecki’s applied studies. I will in the first place explain and discuss Kalecki’s outlook and methodology. In the second place, I will use it to see how much it can help to understand the recent evolution of the US economy. In the current US crisis, monetary policy, in the shape of quantitative easing and historically low rates of interest, has been hailed by publicists and pundits as the solution to confront the decline of private spending and the business downswing. The results of have been rather disappointing. Using Kalecki’s approach and methodology, I have verified that it has been public spending that has played the key role to avoid a deeper crisis than the one that actually took place.