Krugman Meets Marx and Keynes at the Baby-Sitting Co-Op
23 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2005
Date Written: January 2005
Abstract
Paul Krugman tells the story of the Capitol Hill baby-sitting co-op as a means of introducing readers to the economics of recessions. This story, like many others in economics, is a wonderful teaching device in undergraduate courses. We take the story from where Krugman stops and develop it by presenting different aspects of a monetary economy with the help of a graphical analysis. This is done with the introduction of history of economic thought to the curriculum by visiting monetary theories of Karl Marx's Capital (1867) and John Maynard Keynes's A Treatise on Money (1930). The benefit of using these two sources is twofold. First, it is possible to find a common theory in both Marx and Keynes's writings to explain the baby-sitting co-op story. Second, it is possible to move beyond the story and introduce other aspects of a monetary economy such as endogenoity of money, industrial and financial circulation of money, etc. In addition, a graphical framework is developed as teaching aid.
Keywords: Teaching, Money, Marx, Keynes
JEL Classification: A22, B31, E11, E12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation