Michał Kalecki Is the Economist We Need to Make Sense of Class Conflict
Polish economist Michał Kalecki argued that capitalists would always resist full employment because it increases the confidence and bargaining power of workers. He was right — so right that even the Fed has now begun citing his ideas.
Strikers of the Oil Workers International Local 456 CIO picket the Dearborn Wyoming bulk station at the Socony Vacuum Oil Company in Dearborn, Michigan, on September 23, 1945. With record low unemployment, the post-WWII US economy saw a huge strike wave. (Bettmann / Getty Images)
In an article for the Financial Times last year, journalist Martin Sandbu announced the return of class conflict as a central theme for economics. According to Sandbu, “Every downturn rekindles interest in John Maynard Keynes. This one should call attention to Michał Kalecki.”
Kalecki developed many of the ideas associated with the “Keynesian Revolution” in economics independently of John Maynard Keynes. The Polish economist is best remembered today for his celebrated essay on the politics of full employment, which has lost none of its topical value. A recent discussion paper published by the US Federal Reserve drew on Kalecki’s thinking to explain why the bargaining power of workers had declined since the neoliberal offensive of the 1980s.
Jan Toporowski is a professor of economics at SOAS in London and the author of a two-volume intellectual biography of Michał Kalecki. This is an edited transcript from Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the episode here.
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