The trade cycle theories of R.G. Hawtrey and F.A. von Hayek, with particular reference to the role attributed by each to the rate of interest
It was originally intended that this essay should be confined to a study of interest alone, in the context of the trade cycle theories of R. G. Hawtrey and F. A. v. Hayek. However it was found that much of the significance of the rate of interest was lost unless changes in the rate were continuously related to the process of the cycle as a whole. There has, therefore, been inevitably a "widening" of the subject matter (perhaps at the sacrifice of "deepening"!) to include other aspects of their theories which, while not directly related to interest, nevertheless do help towards a clearer understanding of the context in which it is set. The writer is conscious of the omission of any discussion of the "Austrian" theory of capital as such, on which much of Hayek's approach to the trade cycle is based, but it was felt that to do justice to such a complex topic little short of a "thesis within a thesis" would have been adequate. The essay consists of three parts. The first two deal with the theories of Hawtrey and Hayek separately, while Part Three includes some general conclusions suggested by the discussion.
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