The Economist as Mythmaker: Stigler’s Kinky Transformation
Author(s)
Freedman, Craig
Abstract
An account of the theories of economist George Stigler with special emphasis on the kinked demand curve is presented. Stigler established himself as a conservative theorist in a 1947 article published in the Journal of Political Economy which questioned the theories of Paul Sweezy. Sweezy had postulated that standard demand curves did not present an accurate description of oligopolies since the curves did not account for interactions between firms. Stigler’s economic agenda and an in-depth analysis of Sweezy’s theories are discussed.
