Planned Introduction to the Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Mit- und Nachschriften 1919–1920 in the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (Sections 7-11) Bertram Schefold (bio) and Joachim Schröder Translated by M.S. Whimster 7. Accumulation- and crisis theory, money Weber's selective recourse to Marx We have so far outlined Weber's position on the basic elements of neoclassical theory and we will return several times to his position on particular aspects of this theory. Max Weber was as original in his attitude towards Marx as he was towards neoclassicism.202 In the introduction to a recent edition of the English translation of Economic History Ira J. Cohen holds that Max Weber accepted the correctness of Marx's theory of surplus value, but it did not play a central role in his work; however, Weber's characterisation of modern capitalism through disenchantment and rationalization is the counterpart to alienation and exploitation as the product of modernization.203 By contrast, the preface to the French translation, the core features of the Marxist interpretation of capitalism are identified in the Economic History. For Weber and Marx, capitalism is the result of the shaping of the commodity-producing society through the separation of workers from their means of production, combined with the increase in productivity and an expanded legal apparatus. Nevertheless, there are two major differences between the two theories. The first, of an epistemological nature, stems from the status that Weber gives to his reconstruction of the genesis of capitalism; for Marx, capitalism is the 'necessary fruit of the dissolution of the feudal formation', but in Weber's view it remains 'the largely contingent conclusion of multiple processes'. And Weber is also at odds with Marx in his choice of the 'selected variable' in thinking about the essence of capitalism: whereas [End Page 12] the author of Capital considered that the 'secret' of capitalism lay in the process of extracting surplus-value (hidden behind the egalitarian form of the wage relationship), the author of the Economic History emphasizes the role 'capital accounting' ('compte de capital') played by firms as the ultimate criterion for the development of 'capitalism'.204 Here, too, the different historical categorizations are linked to different theoretical views. Weber distanced himself from the labour theory of value, but acknowledged that Marx had nevertheless 'arrived at a clear-sighted assessment of capitalist development'.205 Weber acknowledged that Marx had 'correctly described the superiority of the large-scale capitalist enterprise, accumulation, concentration and centralization, and also convincingly described the resulting insecurities for the workers' existence'.206 Unfortunately, Weber did not summarize the parts of his lectures on theoretical economics concerned with the history of economic thought in the 'Grundriß zu den Vorlesungen' ('Outline of the Lectures'), so that we have follow his notes. They contain the reproduction of central concepts of Marx's system with precise explanations; in particular the definition of socially necessary labour time, the question of the theory of surplus value (how is exchange, which is symbolised by the circulation figure W-G-W', to be judged, and how the other form of circulation G-W-G', whereby G' > G must now be clarified—so where does surplus value come from?). The answer is based on the use value of the commodity labour power, which is capable of producing more than the cost of its reproduction. Thus, under the conditions of the labour theory of value, unpaid labour is added to production. The amount depends on the degree of exploitation of labour power, and this depends on cultural conditions. Weber arrives at the uniform surplus-value rate and establishes that with equal surplus-value rates the profit rates are unequal. The production prices are decisive at the level of individual industries, but in the final instance it is the value in aggregate. Therefore, Weber presents the transformation problem in the form that it would have to be argued that the sum of the production prices corresponds to the sum of the values of all commodities and, on the other hand, that the sum of the deviations of the prices on the positive side is equal to the sum of the deviations of the prices on the negative...

The roundtable, convened to celebrate the 25th ESHET conference, asked how the history of economic thought can become relevant for actual economic policy. Schefold begins with methodological remarks and illustrates the general theme by showing how the policies of ordoliberalism involve a dialogue between postulates formulated in the past and revaluations made necessary by new conditions. Von Weizsacker proposes an economic policy based on a new Hicksian reconstruction and extension of Bohm-Bawerks theory. Maes shows how modern central banks do historical research which may induce them to take some distance from ongoing research and to avoid a "this time is different" view. Boianovsky provides highlights of the history of development economics and its policy implications. Feldman uses history of economic thought to find solutions for recurrent balance-of-payments crises affecting peripheral economies.

Zusammenfassung Nach seiner Wiedergründung war man im Vorstand des Vereins für Socialpolitik bis in die sechziger Jahre bestrebt, es dem alten Verein gleichzutun, wie er bis zur Selbstauflösung unter dem Nationalsozialismus bestanden hatte. Der Verein sollte nicht nur eine Berufsvereinigung von Ökonomen sein, sondern durch seine Tagungen und Publikationen auf die Öffentlichkeit im Sinne einer aufklärenden und wachstumsfördernden, an aktuelle Fragestellungen anknüpfenden Wirtschaftspolitik wirken. Tagungen wurden durch Materialsammlungen vorbereitet, Vorträge und Diskussionen publiziert. Die liberale Presse pflegte darüber ausführlich und mit engagierter Kritik zu berichten. Mit der Zunahme der Zahl der Universitäten und Hochschullehrer wurde es notwendig, die Tagungen für eine breitere Teilnahme zu öffnen, es wurden neue Ausschüsse gegründet, und die Teilnehmer veröffentlichten ihre Ergebnisse zunehmend selbstständig in internationalen Zeitschriften.

Planned Introduction to the Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Mit- und Nachschriften 1919–1920 in the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (Sections 1-6) Bertram Schefold (bio) and Joachim Schröder Translated by M.S. Whimster Preliminary Note 2023: In 2005, the editors of the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (MWG) commissioned me to edit Max Weber's Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte. However, when the preparatory work for it was essentially completed, they did not accept the draft of the introduction. Since then I have been asked for it several times and, subsequently, the Abriß had appeared as volume III/6 of the MWG (edited by Wolfgang Schluchter in collaboration with Joachim Schröder). I wish to thank the editors of the journal Zyklos for publishing it; also to thank the journal Max Weber Studies for their translation.1 Nothing has been changed in the text, apart from the correction of typing errors, but the notes have been brought up to date with the help of Mr. Joachim Schröder; also the references to Weber's works then unpublished in MWG have now been updated. Mr. Schröder also compiled a bibliography based on the information provided in the footnotes, which has now been added. I would like to thank Mr. Schröder for his renewed help. The orthography of the text was based on the rules in force at the time of the draft. The preface added at that time is included for general explanation and for the sake of acknowledgements; for the Editorial Report, reference can be made to MWG III/6. Foreword This volume of the Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe contains the Wirtschaftsgeschichte, subtitled Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte [End Page 141] (Outline of Universal Social and Economic History), as edited by Siegmund Hellmann and Melchior Palyi from the unpublished legacy of his writings (Nachlaß). Weber's notes from which he gave the lectures and the colleague's notes on which Hellmann and Palyi originally relied have been lost. But the text of 1923, with its glossary of explanations, is here accompanied by a lecture transcript in its entirety and excerpts from a second one, and these make it possible to check the fidelity to the spoken word to a certain extent by comparison with the book edition. The Editorial Report provides information on the handling of these sources and some of the results of the comparison. The Introduction seeks to present the significance of the Outline of Universal Social and Economic History (henceforwards: Economic History) for Weber's later work and, using his transcribed but not yet published lectures on theoretical economics (Nationalökonomie), deals in particular with Weber as an economist from a dogma-historical perspective. The Düsseldorf office of the MWG provided substantial support for the editing work. First and foremost, I would like to thank Mr. Joachim Schröder for his reliable help in preparing this edition; Ms. Isabel Hartmann prepared the extensive bibliography, Mr. Richard Kühl largely compiled the glossary and the list of persons. The deciphering of the handwritten passages of the transcripts were undertaken by external experts, Mr. Hans Gebhard and Mr. Horst and Mrs Sigrid Grimm. I would like to thank Mr. Rainer M. Lepsius and Mr. Wolfgang Schluchter for their knowledgeable advice and Ms. Edith Hanke for her support, not just in terms of editing. The introduction was largely drafted in 2007 during a summer stay at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris; I thank Mr. Hinnerk Bruhns for the invitation and for many conversations I had with him and his colleagues, especially Jean Andreau. One draft was presented in French at a meeting in Aixen-Provence in autumn 2007 (for which I am particularly grateful to Mr. Gilles Campagnolo and Mr. Pierre Livet) and a slightly different one in English at the meeting of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought in spring 2008; I thank Japanese colleagues Yuichi Shionoya and Kiichiro Yagi for their comments there. Among other interlocutors in Frankfurt, I would like to mention in particular Mr. Klaus Lichtblau and Mr. Helge Peukert. The thanks do not imply any transfer of joint responsibility; as always, the author must...

Most studies of the frequency of reswitching and reverse capital deepening were based on two or three sector models and came to the conclusion that these phenomena are rare. Here it is shown that the probability of isolated reswitching tends to zero in large economic systems. The assumptions of the new mathematical theorems proposed are supported by an empirical enquiry. The randomness of input–output systems can help to explain the result, but is not essential. If the number of switch-points tends to infinity in large systems, it is not certain that even one represents a case of reverse capital deepening. The focus of the critique of capital will have to change.

The main policy to fight modern inflations is to raise interest rates. This lowers the pressure of demand and thus curbs the rise of prices. But interest is an element in cost of production and higher interest rates render the financing of investment more difficult. If the rise of interest costs is persistent, it adds to costs in the long run and becomes a component of long-run prices, so that it is not obvious what will prevail. In this paper, we focus on the long-run aspect using the classical theory of long-run prices (Sraffa, 1960). Under this approach if the interest rate results from monetary policy, this will determine the rate of profit and also the wage rate. In the context of the Monetary Theory of Distribution, raising interest rates at first adds to inflation by imposing additional costs on producers. We call this the Tooke effect. However, the sudden rise of the rate of interest reduces effective demand, exerting a pressure on prices, which, according to all experience, ultimately prevails and inflation is reduced. Date of presentation: 08-21-2023 Date of approval: 09-10-2023 JEL classification: B51 ; E43 ; E52

This chapter draws together the key points and arguments from the book, provides pointers for future avenues of study and discusses the importance of the history of Chinese economic thought in the context of the recent Chinese policies to revive national identity, governance and culture.

Abstract The debate on capital theory is no more about the historical formation of neoclassical ideas in their original, most abstract form, but about the tools—certainly influenced by those ideas—which are used in teaching applied economics. One focus still is on the economy’s aggregate production function, almost 70 years after Joan Robinson attacked this concept. It has turned out that reswitching—once the most effective argument against the production function—is rare, and that an approximate surrogate production function can be constructed, using random matrices. This seems to weaken the critique, but a new one has emerged, which shows that the number of effective techniques on the wage curve is small and that the possibilities of substitution between capital and labour are quite restricted in the relevant range.

Paradoxically, the medieval discussions surrounding the prohibition of interest led to conceptual advances that proved fruitful in the end both for theory and practice of credit relationships. The problems that arose in business dealings were first structured and conceptualised by theology and jurisprudence in the medieval usury debates. Kaspar Klock, a representative of the older cameralists, still pondered over the traditional arguments against usury, although interest-taking had become legal within limits. Leibniz was not only one of the creators of calculus; he also worked on problems of compound interest, which was now prohibited in order to protect borrowers against an excessive accumulation of debts. A subsequent outstanding cameralist contribution is by Florencourt (1781). The concepts formed in the discussions about licit and illicit forms of interest-taking made it possible to calculate the claims of borrowers and lenders exactly. Thus knowledge that had originated among the scholastics became part of applied economics in the period of cameralism and mercantilism, mostly addressed to lawyers; later it was incorporated in the body of economic theory, in particular the theory of capital. The Chinese, by contrast, did not prohibit interest, but they too took measures to prevent an excessive accumulation of debts.

O etnólogo alemão Karl von den Steinen (1855 - 1929) realizou duas expedições na região do Xingu nos anos 1880, tendo publicado seus relatos sobre a região e seus povos na Alemanha em fins do século 19. Em 1999 o neto de Karl von den Steinen, professor de economia política e história do pensamento econômico na Universidade de Frankfurt a. M., Bertram Schefold, veio ao Brasil para proferir uma série de palestras sobre teoria do capital que proferiu no Rio de Janeiro e visitou os Bakairí no Mato Grosso. Lá ele conheceu Vilinta, neta de Antônio, o indígena Bakairí que guiou Karl von den Steinen em sua primeira expedição até as nascentes do Xingu em 1884. O reencontro entre os descendentes do europeu e de seu guia Bakairí ensejou a elaboração de quatro projetos, que foram anunciados pelo filho de Vilinta, Estevan, no sentido de valorização cultural e aproximação. Entre eles, propunha-se a realização da visita de uma delegação Bakairí ao Museu Etnológico em Berlim. Esse é o relato de Bertram Schefold acerca de sua viagem, traduzido do alemão para o português, de modo a torná-lo acessível aos leitores de língua portuguesa e para contribuir com a disseminação da ideia da viagem dos Bakairí a Berlim, que ainda não foi realizada.

在20世纪20年代,斯拉法对马歇尔经济学进行了一场著名的批判。斯拉法的文章和罗宾逊夫人以及张伯伦的著作掀起了一轮不完全竞争分析的潮流。本文聚焦于斯拉法对马歇尔经济学中生产理论的批判。第一,本文回顾了斯拉法文章的背景,包括经济学的方法论争论。第二,本文重点分析了斯拉法如何在逻辑上拆解了马歇尔经济学。斯拉法的文章从规模收益规律和完全竞争条件的分析入手,揭示了新古典主义经济理论的错误。第三,通过对斯拉法文章的分析,我们可以看到那些通向《用商品生产商品》——日后斯拉法最重要作品——的思想萌芽。