Hazel Kyrk, The Economics of the Social Relevance of Consumption and John Maynard Keynes' Consumption Function*

Attilio Trezzini

A chapter in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Hazel Kyrk's:A Theory of Consumption100 Years after Publication, 2024, vol. 41D, pp 69-93 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Hazel Kyrk’s contribution is the most advanced formulation of the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon, an approach to the analysis of consumption that, originated from Veblen’s theory, was developed in the US in the early 20th century. This approach was part of a wider stream of empirical analyses of consumption expenditure that had begun more than a century earlier. Along with elements that can be traced back to the neoclassical tradition, in Keynes’ analysis of consumption, we find original elements. The dependence of consumption expenditure on the level of income, which is essential for asserting the principle of effective demand, can also be found in a long tradition of empirical studies. In qualifying this relationship, Keynes uses theoretical elements echoing key insights of the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon. There is no documentary evidence that Kyrk or the economics of the social relevance of consumption came to Keynes’ attention. It is possible, however, to develop reasonable speculative considerations to argue a link between Keynes’ elaboration and both the empirical literature on the determinants of consumption and the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon.

Keywords: Kyrk; history of consumption analysis; Keynes’ consumption function; institutionalism; consumption as a social phenomenon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:rhetzz:s0743-41542024000041d006

DOI: 10.1108/S0743-41542024000041D006

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