Sraffa, Keynes and a New Paradigm

The Cambridge school has challenged neoclassical theory and demonstrated how mainstream economics was unsuitable to describe the real economy. Different heterodox economists have recognized the importance both of Keynes and Sraffa and different efforts have been made in order to develop a Sraffian-Keynesian synthesis. Unfortunately, several theoretical and methodological issues prevented the development of a new economic paradigm capable of replacing the existing mainstream. After discussing these issues, it will be highlighted how the role of demand, institutions, and society, the complexity of real economies and the role of accounting, computability and constructiveness are important for the development of a Sraffian-Keynesian paradigm. Based on these premises, it will be proposed a Sraffian-Keynesian interpretation of the monetary theory of production that could allow the development of models grounded on bookkeeping principles and computable methods and able to simulate the dynamics of out-of-equilibrium monetary-entrepreneur economies.