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Kenneth J. Arrow's recent article on Ricardian theory (Arrow 1991) represents the occasion for a renewed discussion of the basic building blocks of the classics' analytical scheme and of the role of demand conditions in this context. Arrow's argument pivots around two ideas: that Ricardo's theory is built without any reference to demand, and that the role of demand can be conceived of only within the logical context of neoclassical demand functions, which are absent in Ricardo, thus making his theoretical scheme irremediably weak. These ideas form the basis of a drastically dichotomized representation on the part of Arrow of current interpretations of Ricardo. On the one hand are the neoclassical-type views, epitomized by his own position, with their emphasis on the allocation problem; on the other hand are the purely cost-oriented neo-Ricardian interpretations, with their strongly Marxist ideological bias.

The present note is a development of a paper I presented some four years ago at the 1987 meeting of the History of Economics Society (Caravale 1987), and that was later published in Rivista di Politico Economica in an expanded version (Caravale 1988). The aim of these two writings was to emphasize that—contrary to what is often maintained—demand conditions play a fundamental role in classical and classical-type theories. This role is different from that played by demand in neoclassical theories (where equilibrium prices are determined by demand and supply functions), and is so to speak "internal" to the theory of natural equilibrium since it is connected with the definition, for each situation, of the Smithian "point of effectual demand." Before turning to the specific object of this note, let me recall very briefly the main points of the general thesis developed in the above-mentioned papers.

This book considers the treatment of equilibrium by several of the most important schools of thought in economics, including: * neoclassical economics, * the neo-Ricardian economics, * Post-Keynesian economics - both those who follow Joan Robinson in denying any interpretative role to equilibrium in economic theorizing and those who use the notion of equilibrium, but re-defined from a Classical or Keynesian perspective.

The book presents a rigorous reconstruction of Ricardo's contribution to economic theory and a unifying interpretation of the key issues of Ricardo's research. Part One deals primarily with the problems of value and distribution Part Two deals specifically with the issues of distribution and growth. * Contemporary economic literature in the fields of value, distribution and growth is witnessing a renewed interest in the approach of the classical school, notably in the work of David Ricardo

The book presents a rigorous reconstruction of Ricardo's contribution to economic theory and a unifying interpretation of the key issues of Ricardo's research. Part One deals primarily with the problems of value and distribution Part Two deals specifically with the issues of distribution and growth. * Contemporary economic literature in the fields of value, distribution and growth is witnessing a renewed interest in the approach of the classical school, notably in the work of David Ricardo.