Search

Rent seeking has once again become an important topic in economics. However, rent seeking poses challenges that standard economic theory is not well equipped to handle. This paper develops a working definition of rent seeking that can be applied to post-Keynesian growth models. The main finding is that, in a post-Keynesian framework, rent seeking will have an effect on income distribution and average productivity. In addition, increases in rent seeking can have undesirable effects on the distribution of talent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the hypothesis that the functional distribution of income is not necessary stable along the growth path of a capitalist economy. We reviewed Pasinetti and Foley models showing that if we use the traditional definition of capital, i.e., capital as the value of productive resources (i) r > g is a necessary condition for the existence of balanced growth, and it will not lead to an explosive process of income concentration and (ii) r > i is a necessary condition for a financially robust growth path. Thus we conclude that from a post-Keynesian perspective, Piketty's argument that the root of the increase of inequality in capitalism is that the capital return rate is higher than the growth rate of the economy is wrong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]