Abstract

The Great Depression moved Bernard Lonergan, like many others of his generation, to investigate the nature of economic cycles. During this same period, he wrote his first essays in the philosophy of history. In this dissertation, I argue that his account of the dynamics of human history is the proper context in which to understand his analysis of exchange economies. ;In Chapters I and II, I elucidate Lonergan's account of the tripolar dialectic of progress, decline, and supernatural recovery. Whereas uncritical social theory accelerates historical decline, an adequate explanatory viewpoint of historical process can facilitate the intelligent and responsible direction of human history. In his Essay in Circulation Analysis, Lonergan hoped to contribute to a critical science of economics which would guide the historical unfolding of exchange economies. In Chapter III, I examine his analytic division of the productive process into a basic and a series of surplus stages of production, and in Chapter IV, I examine his analysis of the basic and surplus circuits and their cross-overs. An adequate account of the dynamism of exchange economies must also explain changes in the rates of production and payment. In Chapter V, I explore Lonergan's notion of the "pure cycle" of economic process and the cyclical fluctuations of new fixed investment and monetary income which are constitutive of it. Human maladaptations to the natural rhythms of the pure cycle give rise to the cycle of booms and slumps. In Chapter VI, I consider some of the maladaptations leading to the familiar trade cycle as well as some of the ways economies have sought to avoid the requirements of the pure cycle. Rather than the fruit of enlightened policies, these circuits issue forth in long-term economic decline. Modern exchange economies are thus presented with a serious challenge. In Chapter VII, I explore the nature of this challenge and the role a critical science of economics would play in responding to it