Stock and Flow - History

History

The distinction between a stock and a flow is elementary, and dates back centuries in accounting practice (distinction between an asset and income, for instance). In economics, the distinction was formalized and terms were set in (Fisher 1896), in which Irving Fisher formalized capital (as a stock).

Polish economist MichaƂ Kalecki emphasized the centrality of the distinction of stocks and flows, caustically calling economics "the science of confusing stocks with flows" in his critique of the quantity theory of money (circa 1936, frequently quoted by Joan Robinson).

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