Bródy András gazdaságiciklus-elmélete (András Bródy's theory of economic cycles)

Bródy András kutatásainak egyik központi témaköre a gazdasági mozgás vizsgálata volt. Írásunkban Bródy elméletét kívánjuk röviden áttekinteni és összefoglalni. A termelés sokszektoros leírása egyben árelméletét (értékelméletét, méréselméletét) is keretbe foglalja. Ebben a keretben a gazdasági mozgás összetett ingadozása technológiai alapon elemezhető. Bródy megközelítésében a gazdasági ciklust nem külső megrázkódások magyarázzák, hanem a termelési rendszer belső arányai és kapcsolatai. A termelési struktúrát az árak és a volumenek egyformán alakítják, ezek között nincsen kitüntetett vagy domináns tényező. Az árak és a volumenek a köztük lévő duális kapcsolatban alakulnak ki. A gazdaság mozgásegyenleteit technológiai mérlegösszefüggések, valamint a piaci csere útján a gazdaságban újraelosztásra (újratermelésre) kerülő termékek felhasználása és az eszközlekötés változása írja le. Az így meghatározott mozgásegyenletek a gazdaság természetes mozgását ciklusmozgás alakjában írják le. A technológia vagy az értékviszonyok megváltozása (sokkok) a gazdaság ciklikus mozgásának megváltozásában tükröződik. Bródy munkáiban technológiai megalapozást nyer a történelemből ismert számos jellegzetes gazdasági ciklus. / === / Economic motion and dynamics are at the heart of Andras Brody's creative output. This paper attempts a bird's-eye view of his theory of economic cycles. Brody's multi-sector modelling of production has provided a framework for price theory (the theory of value and measurement). His theory of economic motion with cyclical characteristics is technology driven. It argues that the complex web of economic cycles is determined by the proportions and interrelationships of the system of production, not by arbitrary external shocks. The structure's behaviour are driven by prices and proportions, with the duality of prices and proportions as a dominant feature. These are features in common with the Leontief models, which Brody extended to economic cycles. Brody saw economic cycles as natural motions of economic systems with accumulated assets (time lags) and market exchange of goods (demand and supply adjustment). Changes in technology or valuations (shocks) are reflected in changing patterns of motion. His model of the economy is a fine instrument that enabled him to show how the technological parameters of its system determine the frequency and other characteristics of various economic cycles identified in economic history.

Applying consumer responsibility principle in evaluating environmental load of carbon emissions

There is a need for a proper indicator in order to assess the environmental impact of international trade, therefore using the carbon footprint as an indicator can be relevant and useful. The aim of this study is to show from a methodological perspective how the carbon footprint, combined with input- output models can be used for analysing the impacts of international trade on the sustainable use of national resources in a country. The use of the input-output approach has the essential advantage of being able to track the transformation of goods through the economy. The study examines the environmental impact of consumption related to international trade, using the consumer responsibility principle. In this study the use of the carbon footprint and input-output methodology is shown on the example of the Hungarian consumption and the impact of international trade. Moving from a production- based approach in climate policy to a consumption-perspective principle and allocation, would also help to increase the efficiency of emission reduction targets and the evaluation of the ecological impacts of international trade.

Applying consumer responsibility principle in evaluating environmental load of carbon emissions

There is a need for a proper indicator in order to assess the environmental impact of international trade, therefore using the carbon footprint as an indicator can be relevant and useful. The aim of this study is to show from a methodological perspective how the carbon footprint, combined with input- output models can be used for analysing the impacts of international trade on the sustainable use of national resources in a country. The use of the input-output approach has the essential advantage of being able to track the transformation of goods through the economy. The study examines the environmental impact of consumption related to international trade, using the consumer responsibility principle. In this study the use of the carbon footprint and input-output methodology is shown on the example of the Hungarian consumption and the impact of international trade. Moving from a production- based approach in climate policy to a consumption-perspective principle and allocation, would also help to increase the efficiency of emission reduction targets and the evaluation of the ecological impacts of international trade.

Why (and When) are Preferences Convex? Threshold Effects and Uncertain Quality

It is often assumed (for analytical convenience, but also in accordance with common intuition) that consumer preferences are convex. In this paper, we consider circumstances under which such preferences are (or are not) optimal. In particular, we investigate a setting in which goods possess some hidden quality with known distribution, and the consumer chooses a bundle of goods that maximizes the probability that he receives some threshold level of this quality. We show that if the threshold is small relative to consumption levels, preferences will tend to be convex; whereas the opposite holds if the threshold is large. Our theory helps explain a broad spectrum of economic behavior (including, in particular, certain common commercial advertising strategies), suggesting that sensitivity to information about thresholds is deeply rooted in human psychology.

Rethinking Kyoto Compliance from a Consumption-Based Perspective.

Environmental consequences of international trade are quite relevant for climate change policy. Apparent decoupling of GHG emission and GDP growth, observed in several European countries, is partly due to the increasing dislocation of manufacturing industries from the developed world to emerging economies. Consequently, decoupling is coupled with increasing GHG emission embodied in imported products from these nations. The article scrutinises the GHG emission embedded in Hungarian import of Chinese products. It argues that a stagnating GHG emission observed in Hungary is intertwined with hidden GHG export to China that takes place through trading of goods. Objective evaluation of compliance status with Kyoto targets would require a consumption-based accounting of GHG emissions rather than a production-based one, unless we accept facing a BIG problem at global level.