The Capital Idea and the Scope of Economics rev4教程.pdfVIP

The Review of Austrian Economics, 18:2, 145–167, 2005. c 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. Manufactured in The Netherlands. The Capital Idea and the Scope of Economics PETER LEWIN plewin@utdallas.edu School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75083 Abstract. This paper traces the idea of Capital from Adam Smith to modern times and shows how different conceptions of Capital give rise to different approaches to economics and the range of problems that can be investigated. A structural, as opposed to a stock, approach to Capital is shown to be more conducive to a studies of business institutions and practices, and to rules, institutions and standards in a changing world. Key Words: Capital, structure, stock, aggregation, theory of the firm, economic growth, production function JEL classification: B1, B2, B53, L22, O3 1. Introduction: The Idea of Capital is Central but Lacks Clarity Capital (I am not the first to discover) is a very large subject, with many aspects; wherever one starts, it is hard to bring more than a few of them into view. It is just as if one were making pictures of a building; though it is the same building, it looks quite different from different angles. As I now realize, I have been walking round my subject, taking different views of it. (Hicks 1973:v). The idea of Capital1 is surely central to the study of economics. Its centrality, however, has not prevented the development and persistence of substantial disagreement concerning its meaning and significance. It seems as if each generation of economists has invented its own notion of Capital and its own “capital controversy.” The Classical economists thought of capital in the context of a surplus fund for the sustaining