Luigi L. Pasinetti, Keynes and the Cambridge Keynesians: A ‘Revolution in Economics’ to be Accomplished

This is a review-article with a critical analysis on a heterodox book written by Luigi Pasinetti and published just before the flood of the Great Recession. Under scrutiny is the Cambridge School of Economics with its protagonists - two in particular: Keynes and Sraffa. In life they were close friends. Not so in theory, i.e. economic theory. Keynes was too keen on observing the real world, as it appeared, using and building models able to explain it - and improve it. Sraffa was too dry, too logical, to essential, and far from being down to earth. He thought that Keynes's General Theory was a confused book, while his Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities in less of 100 pages is an example of an astral 'pure theory'. The book by Luigi Pasinetti attempts to put theoretically the two authors together, in the (or an) attempt to accomplish the 'Keynesian Revolution'. In the first and second part of the book, Pasinetti explains facts and people that surrounded Keynes and his 1936 General Theory. In the third part, the author offers his way to look forward at the Keynesian Revolution by suggesting the use of a multisectoral theory based on the effective demand, with a dynamic and long term flavor - a theory erected on Sraffian essential Classical principles. In this review-article Pasinetti’s contribution is assessed and discussed within the Keynesian economic paradigm.