Essays in the Theory of Employment JOAN ROBINSON OXFORD BASIL BLAGKWELL 1947 First printed 1937 Macmillan Co. Ltd. Second Edition October 1947 Reprinted November 1947 Printed in Great Britain for BASIL BLACKWELL MOTT, LIMITED by A. R, MOWBRAY Co. LIMITED, London and . Oxford FOREWORI THERE have been considerable developments since these essays were written, both in theory and in experience. From the point of view of theory, they belong to the period of the first impact upon economic thought of Keynes 3 General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. From the point of view of experience, they belong to a period when the existence of unemployment over shadowed all economic problems. I think that they are most easily to be understood in the light of their historical setting, and that any attempt to bring them up to date by shifts of emphasis would be confusing. At the same time I believe that they are not without relevance to the dominant problems of the present day. I have therefore not made any substantial changes in the text of the first edition. I have, however, made a few alterations which might equally well have been made in the first instance. . I have removed an error from the argument on Mobility of Labour p. 33, I have simplified the exposition of the effect of inventions on em ployment p. 96, and I have amplified the discussion of the influence of exchange depreciation on the balance of trade p. 143. JOAN ROBINSON CAMBRIDGE February, 1947 FOREWORD TO FIRST EDITION THESE essays represent an attempt to apply the principles of Mr. Keynes General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money to a number of particular problems. References to the General Theory are provided for the convenience of the reader, not by way of acknowledgment to Mr. Keynes, for the very existence of this book, for what it is worth, must be regarded as an acknowledg ment to the work of Mr. Keynes. The following are reprinted each with some alteration by vi FOREWORD permission of the editorslS%