Re: Q on Keynes and economic time

[Charles Anderson <chasna@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

S R Larsson wrote:
>
> I need to refer to Keynes's definition of economic time - a day, he says,
> is "the minimum effective unit of economic time", but I can't remember
> where to find that definition. Is  it in the GT? Elsewhere?

Sven:

To the best of my knowledge, the day as the "atom" of time originated
with Robertsonian dynamics. It is a natural derivative of the
equation of exchange, e.g., MV=PY is divided on both sides by V to
yield M=PT, the exchange of money for final goods in a single circuit
period, and then M=PT is divided on both sides by k, the circuit period
in terms of days, to yield M/k=P(T/k), the expenditure of money against
final goods proportioned to a single day.

In his BANKING POLICY AND THE PRICE LEVEL, Robertson talks about the
closeness with Keynes during the period in which he was formulating
the method for this work, but Robertson was probably the originator
of the concept being more developed in dynamic methods.

Chas