Political Aspects of Full Employment in Retrospect

Kalecki’s ‘Political Aspects of Full Employment’ is a classic work of political economy, showing how full employment may be obtained by fiscal policy. However, full employment challenges key institution of capitalism, in the labour market evoking resistance from business and finance and the possibility of a political business cycle. The paper compares Kalecki’s vision of full employment with that of Keynes and the contribution of mass unemployment to fascism. The paper argues that Kalecki saw full employment as a transition to socialism