Topics of coins
Michał Kalecki
Michał Kalecki (1899-1970) was a brilliant
Polish economist. Kalecki studied at
several universities: the Warsaw University
of Technology, the University of Warsaw, and
the Gdańsk University of Technology, but he
did not graduate from any of them – mainly for
financial reasons. He explored economics on his
own. In 1929, he started working at the Institute
of Research on Business Cycles and Prices
(Instytut Badania Koniunktur Gospodarczych
i Cen). In 1933, he published a visionary study
Próba teorii koniunktury [An Essay on the Theory
of the Business Cycle] in which he presented
the theory of effective demand. After receiving
the Rockefeller Foundation grant, he went to
Sweden in 1936. Then, he settled in the UK,
where he collaborated with several academic
centres. He translated his theory into English
and the work was published in 1939. Kalecki
also made the acquaintance of John Maynard
Keynes.
During the war, Kalecki was employed at the
Oxford Institute of Statistics. From 1946, he
held the post of deputy director of the Division
of Economic Stability and Development in
the Department of Economic Affairs of the UN
Secretariat. He returned to Poland in 1955 and
devoted himself primarily to academic work.
He lectured at the Main School of Planning
and Statistics (today SGH Warsaw School of
Economics). He served as an adviser to the
governments of several countries. He was
a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economics
in 1970, but the scientist’s death closed the way
to this award.
fields. Kalecki dealt with the theory of the business
cycle, problems of economic planning, as well
as issues of national income. In his research he
explored the theory of economic development.
He paid particular attention to the question
of ensuring full employment. He formulated his
main concepts three years before Keynes. All
of Kalecki’s works were published in English.
Among the more important contributions of the
scientist, the following works should be mentioned:
Próba teorii koniunktury [An Essay on the Theory
of the Business Cycle], Essays in the Theory of
Economic Fluctuations, Płace nominalne i realne
[Nominal and Real Wages], Teoria dynamiki
gospodarczej [Theory of Economic Dynamics], Polityczne aspekty pełnego zatrudnienia
[Political Aspects of Full Employment].
The reverse of the coin features the image
of Michał Kalecki, the dates of his birth and
death and the titles of his selected works.
The obverse features – in addition to
the regular elements such as the image of
the Eagle established as the state emblem
of the Republic of Poland, the face value
and the designation of the year of issue –
a quotation from his monograph Kapitalizm.
Koniunktura i zatrudnienie [Capitalism.
The Business Cycle and Employment].
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