Much of the Reluctance of Economists to deal with the Theory of Capital Is a Result of the Historical Context in Which It Was Developed

As will become clear from the discussion below, much of the reluctance of economists to deal with the theory of capital is a result of the historical context in which it was developed. The history of thought in capital theory contains volumes of discussion on intricate technical and sometimes philosophical issues that modern economists have come to think they can do quite well without. This impression was strongly reinforced by the Keynesian revolution and Keynes’s summary dismissal of capital theory as irrelevant. Even with the emergence of a more critical approach to Keynesian macroeconomics, this habit of ignoring the deeper issues that a consideration of the nature of capital invites was not broken. Capital theory is widely (if tacitly) regarded as a topic in the history of economic thought.

--Peter Lewin, introduction and outline to Capital in Disequilibrium: The Role of Capital in a Changing World, 2nd ed. (Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2011), 4.