An enduring partnership: the correspondence between Kahn and J.Robinson

The correspondence between Joan Robinson and Richard Kahn 1930-1946 The chapter deals with the correspondence between Joan Robinson and Richard Kahn, from 1930, when Joan Robinson wrote to Kahn for the first time to congratulate him on his Fellowship, to 1946, when Keynes died. It examines approximately 550 letters, most of them by Joan Robinson and previously undated , which can be divided into three groups on the basis of the subjects dealt with: a) the making of Economics of Imperfect Competition; b) Kahn’s visit to the United States; c) academic life in Cambridge. The paper shows the relevance of this correspondence for a better understanding of JVR and RFK’s work and personalities. In particular section a) brings new evidence for an assessment of Kahn’s contribution to the theory of imperfect competion and shows that, while both Kahn and J. Robinson shared choices of method and approach, J. Robinson was more fascinated than Kahn by the tool of marginal analysis and less concerned for the effect on employment of market organization. Section b) reports how Kahn perceived the state of economic theory in the United States and his surprise at noticing how little impact Keynes’s views had had on academic economists. It also illustrates the clash between two ways – English and American – of conceiving the academic life and the purpose of research. Section c) sheds light on the personality of J. Robinson, her political views and her attitude towards family life and Cambridge relations.