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Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access published online on January 21, 2009
Cambridge Journal of Economics, doi:10.1093/cje/ben050
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

A Sraffian critique of the classical notion of centre of gravitation

Michel-Stéphane Dupertuis and Ajit Sinha*

* Collège de France, Paris

Address for correspondence: Ajit Sinha, Collège de France, 3 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France; email: sinha_a99{at}yahoo.com

In this paper we use insights from Sraffa's classic, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, to argue that the classical notion of ‘centre of gravitation’ is not a sound concept. The market mechanics of labour allocation through price signals and quantity adjustments, given effectual demands, do not lead to a ‘centre of gravitation’. We work out all such possible market mechanisms, including the specific classical case, and show that the ‘centre of gravitation’ is a non-attractive point in all cases.

Key Words: Centre of gravitation • Classical gravitation mechanism • Natural price • Natural rate of profit • Effectual demand • Classical economics • Sraffa • Adam Smith • Ricardo • Marx

JEL classifications: B12, B24, B40, B51

Manuscript received July 9, 2007; final version received September 4, 2008.


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