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March 2004
Joan Robinson�s endeavor to expose a lacuna between �history� and �equilibrium� constitutes a significant plank in her overall critique of orthodox economic theory. It also goes beyond the hornet�s nest she successfully exposed in her celebrated critique of the treatment of �capital� in neoclassical theory. I argue in this paper that, instead of a closed circle of equilibrium relations, universally applicable and independent of time and place, Robinson sought to develop a system of analysis that is more eclectic and open to history in a very definite sense. Indeed, the hard core of her work is really an attempt to outline an alternative approach to economics that provides a way of understanding economic history in all its richness and diversity. She herself did not manage to advance this approach to any significant extent. Much work has been done since then that strongly bears out her concerns, advances her effort, and serves to clarify and give deeper insights into the nature of the problems she posed. These problems remain till today the most challenging in economic theory.