Paul Davidson is an American macroeconomist who has been one of the leading spokesmen of the American branch of the Post Keynesian

Post-Keynesian economics

Post Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought with its origins in The General Theory of John Maynard Keynes, although its subsequent development was influenced to a large degree by Michał Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor and Paul Davidson...

 school in economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

. He is a prolific writer and has actively intervened in important debates on economic policy (natural resources

Natural Resources

Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...

, international monetary system

International monetary systems

International monetary systems are sets of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital between nation states. They provide means of payment acceptable between buyers and...

, developing countries

Developing country

A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...

' debt) from a position that is very critical of mainstream economics.

Life and work

Davidson did not originally choose economics as a profession. His primary training was in both chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 and biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

, for which he received B.Sc.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degrees from Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 in 1950. He was a graduate student in biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

 at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, but switched to economics, receiving his MBA

Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...

 from the City University of New York

City University of New York

The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...

 in 1955, and completing his PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959.

Davidson is Holly Professor of Excellence, Emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

 at the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 in Knoxville. He is a Visiting Scholar

Visiting scholar

In the world of academia, a visiting scholar or visiting academic is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university, where he or she is projected to teach , lecture , or perform research on a topic the visitor is valued for...

 at the Schwartz Center For Economic Policy Analysis at the New School. Besides the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Tennessee, and the New School, Davidson has taught economics at Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

, Bristol University, and the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. In the early 1960s he worked at Continental Oil Company.

Davidson and Sidney Weintraub

Sidney Weintraub

Sidney Weintraub was one of the most prominent American members of the Post Keynesian school in economics.-External links:*...

founded the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics in 1978. Davidson continues as editor of that journal.

Major publications

• Theories of Aggregate Income Distribution, 1960
• Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis, with E. Smolensky, 1964
• "The Valuation of Public Goods," 1968, in Garnsey and Hibbs (eds.), Social Sciences and the Environment
• Money and the Real World, 1972
• "Market Disequilibrium Adjustments: Marshall Revisited," 1974, Econ Inquiry
• "Post-Keynesian Monetary Theory and Inflation", 1977, in S. Weintraub (ed.), Modern Economic Thought
• "A Discussion of Leijonhufvud's Social Consequences of Inflation", 1977, in Harcourt (ed.), Microfoundations of Macroeconomics
• "The Carter Energy Proposal", 1977, Challenge
• "Money and General Equilibrium," 1977, Economie Appliquee
• "Post Keynesian Approach to the Theory of Natural Resources", 1979, Challenge
• "Monetary Policy, Regulation and International Adjustments," with M.A. Miles, 1979, Economies et Societies
• "What Is the Energy Crisis?", 1979, Challenge
• "Keynes's Paradigm: A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis", with J.A. Kregel, 1980, in Nell (ed.), Growth, Property and Profits
• "Keynes's Theory of Employment, Expectations and Indexing", 1980, Revista de Economia Latinoamericana
• "Post Keynesian Economics: Solving the Crisis in Economic Theory", 1981, in Bell and Kristol (eds.), The Crisis in Economic Theory
• "Alfred Marshall is Alive and Well in Post Keynesian Economics", 1981, IHS Journal
• "A Critical Analysis of the Monetarist-Rational Expectations Supply Side (Incentive) Economics Approach to Accumulation During a Period of Inflationary Expectations," 1981, Kredit und Kapital
• International Money and the Real World, 1982
• "Monetarism and Reagonomics", 1983, in S. Weintraub and Goodstein (eds.), Reagonomics in the Stagflation Economy
• "The Conventional Wisdom on Deficits Is Wrong", 1984, Challenge
• "Incomes Policy as a Social Institution", 1985, in Maital and Lipnowski (eds.), Macroeconomic Conflict and Social Institutions
• "Policies For Prices And Incomes", 1985, in Barrere (ed.), Keynes Today
• "Financial Markets and Williamson's Theory of Governance: Efficiency vs. Concentration vs. Power", with G.S. Davidson, 1984, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business
• "A Post Keynesian View of Theories and Causes of High Real Interest Rates", 1986, Thames Papers in Political Economy
• "Financial Markets, Investment, and Employment", 1988, in Matzner et al. (eds.), Barriers to Full Employment
• "Weitzman's Share Economy And The Aggregate Supply Function", 1988, in Hamouda and Smithin (eds.), Keynes and Public Policy After Fifty Years
• "Endogenous Money, The Production Process, And Inflation Analysis", 1988, Economie Appliquee
• "A Technical Definition of Uncertainty and the Long Run Non- Neutrality of Money", 1988, Cambridge JE
• Economics for a Civilized Society, with G. Davidson, 1988
• "Keynes and Money" 1989, in Hill (ed.), Keynes, Money, and Monetarism
• "Prices and Income Policy: An Essay in Honor of Sidney Weintraub", 1989, in Barrere (ed.), Money, Credit, and Prices in Keynesian Perspective
• "Patinkin's Interpretation of Keynes and the Keynesian Cross", 1989, HOPE
• "The Economics of Ignorance Or Ignorance of Economics?", 1989, Critical Review
• "Shackle and Keynes vs. Rational Expectations Theory on the Role of Time, Liquidity, and Financial Markets" 1990, in S. Frowen (ed.), Unknowledge and Choice in Economics
• "Liquidity Proposals for a New Bretton Woods Plan", 1990, in Barrere, Keynesian Economic Policies
• "On Thirlwall's Law", 1990, Revista de Economia Politica
• Collected Writings of Paul Davidson (2 vols.), 1990-1.
• Controversies in Post Keynesian Economics, 1991
• "Is Probability Theory Relevant For Choice Under Uncertainty?: A Post Keynesian Perspective", 1991, JEP
• "What Kind of International Payments System Would Keynes Have Recommended for the Twenty-First Century?" 1991, in Davidson and Kregel (eds.), Economic Problems of the 1990s
• "Money: Cause or Effect? Exogenous or Endogenous?", 1992, in Nell and Semmler (eds.), Nicholas Kaldor and Mainstream Economics
• "Eichner's Approach to Money and Macroeconomics", 1992, in Milberg (ed.), The Megacorp and Macrodynamics
• "Asset Deflation and Financial Fragility" 1993, in Arestis (ed.), Contemporary Issues in Money and Banking
• Can the Free Market Pick Winners? (editor), 1993
• Growth, Employment and Finance: Economic Reality and Economic Theory, (co-edited with J.A. Kregel), 1994
• "The Asimakopulos View of Keynes's General Theory", 1994, in Harcourt and Roncaglia (eds.), Investment and Employment in Theory and Practice
• "Monetary Theory and Policy In A Global Context With A Large International Debt" 1994, in Frowen (ed.), Monetary Theory and Monetary Policy
• Post Keynesian Macroeconomic Theory: a foundation for successful economic policies for the Twenty-first Century, 1994
• Economics For A Civilized Society, with Greg Davidson, 1996.
• "What Are The Essential Characteristics of Post Keynesian Monetary Theory?", 1996, in G. Deleplace and E. J. Nell (eds.), Money in Motion
• "The General Theory in An Open Economy," 1996, in Harcourt and Riach (eds.), A Second Edition of the General Theory
• "Is a Plumber Or A Financial Architect Needed to End Global International Liquidity Problems?", 2000, World Development
• Financial Markets, Money and the Real World, 2002
• "The Post Keynesian School", Snowden and Vane (eds.) Modern Macroeconomics, 2005
• "Can, Or Should, A Central Bank Inflation Target?" 2006, JPKE
• "Keynes and Money" in Arestis and Sawyer (eds.) Handbook of Alternative Monetary Economics, 2006
• "Keynes, Post Keynesian Analysis, and the Open Economies of the Twenty-first Century" Arestis, McCombie and Vickerman (eds.) Growth and Economic Development, 2006
• "Are We Making Progess Towards A Civilized Society?", 2007, JPKE
• John Maynard Keynes, 2007
• "How To Solve The U.S. Housing Problem and Avoid A Recession: A Revived HOLC and FTC", Schwartz Center For Economic Policy Analysis: Policy Note, 2008.
• "Securitization, Liquidity, and Market Failure", 2008, Challenge
• "Is The Current Financial Distress Caused By The Sub Prime Mortgage Crisis A Minsky moment? Or Is It The Result of Attempting To Securitize Illiquid Non Commercial Mortgage Loans?", 2008, JPKE
• The Keynes Solution: The Path to Global Economic Prosperity, 2009

Secondary source

• M. Blaug (ed.) - Who's who in economics (3d edition), 1999
• R. Holt - "Neglected prophets: Paul Davidson: The truest Keynesian?" Eastern Economic Journal, 1998

External links

• Paul Davidson's homepage at the Univ. of Tennessee
• VIdeo interview on WTTW Aug 9, 2011 on the S&P downgrade