Editing Stock and flow (section)

==History==
The distinction between a stock and a flow variable 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 {{Harv|Fisher|1896}}, in which [[Irving Fisher]] formalized [[Capital (economics)|capital]] (as a stock).

Polish economist [[Michał 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]]).<ref>[[Joan Robinson]], "[http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/6/3/295.pdf Shedding Darkness]{{dead link|date=May 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}", ''[[Cambridge Journal of Economics]]'', 6 (1982), 295–6: "it is the science of confusing stocks with flows. It is this confusion that has kept the [[Quantity Theory of Money]] alive until today."</ref>