Abstract

As regards the controversy surrounding effective demand and the work of Michäl Kalecki, it must be understood that he not only formulated an adequate theory of economic cycles but, by revealing the limits of this theory, dealt with a more complex set of problems which are specific to the movement of capitalism: the question of the simultaneous determination of cycles and trends. To develop this theory entails reformulating the above concepts in order to grasp the antinomy of the trend in capitalism and its interactions with fluctuations and changing circumstances. This in turn requires a critique of the concept of economic time, or more precisely a clarification of capitalist temporality. It is also necessary to re-assess the theoretical status of the principle of effective demand, in relation to a theory of capital and of capitalist calculation, within a theory of instability; the temporalization of this principle, as effected in macroeconomic models is not sufficient for the comprehension of capitalist dynamics as a whole.