Introduction: Key Questions and Issues, Myths and Missing Links

Abstract

In March 1939 Roy Harrod published his, now classic, ‘essay in dynamic theory’. Over the past 50 years much has been written about the approach Harrod outlined in this essay and its place in the development of economic inquiry and in his thought. Harrod’s 1939 essay is considered by many observers not only to be a turning point in the evolution of modern economics, but in Harrod’s thought itself. However, while the 1939 essay did constitute a breakthrough in economics, whether or not it represented a new direction in Harrod’s thought — or was the outcome of the direction in which he was moving over the previous 15 years of his life — is another matter indeed.