凯恩斯乘数理论几经修订,发展到现在已经出现了几种对乘数过程不同的描述.加之乘数理论本身也存在着定义含混不清、逻辑推导不严谨等问题,所以造成了人们对乘数过程的质疑或理解偏失.本文将已有的对凯恩斯乘数过程的描述归纳为三个图像,详细列出了每个图像不同的前提条件及变量之间的因果次序.发现现有的批判凯恩斯乘数的观点正是源于对这些图像的混淆,并针对由此造成的误解进行了澄清和批驳.
Keynesian multiplier theory has now been presented invarious depictions of the multiplier process after many revisions.These inconsistent statements plus ambiguity of its definition and less rigorous derivation,have raised much query on the multiplier or absence in figuring it out.The existing accounts of Keynesian multiplier process were sorted into three images with explicit assumptions and causalities between variables in each image.It was found that current critical views of multiplier mainly arise from confusions on these images and inability of distinguishing them.Some misleading points were clarified to refute the criticisms.