the intuitive idea that the scale effect is of the same order of 
magnitued fpr the economy as a whole as for say a petrol refinery 
or other plant f>r which we know the value, ^'his is not entirely 
arbitrary because one can argue that all the external economies 
can really be reduced to internal scale effects in auxiliary 
production functions 
Niw to the trend paper. The reinvestment coefficient is really 
the coeffient a/1-c in Kaleckis euqatim of the cycle and equally 
in the equati n f r the trend (see the ry of economic dynamics 
equati n 25* and 52 page 146 ) The equation f>r the ftsii is 
and the equation f r the cycle is the same except that it lacks the 
last two terms ( the trend equ refers of course to moving averages), 
a is as it were a re-investment coefficiet in the narrower sense ~ 
indicating how great a prop rtion of its retained profit business 
one as long as only business savings ore considered, but if you 
apply it to the total savings of the economy it becomes very doubtful 
(see my paper on household saving!). Moreover, the coefficient is 
reduced if you consider also the adverse effect of capacity creatinn 
which is represented by c. The whole coefficient a/1-c must be 
below one, otherwise no cycle will materialise ( there is a wrong 
statement about that in my paper on p.11, top ^hich has been 
corrected in the meantime). Your remarks on the oil companies 
buying up firms - which presumably implies at least for the time 
being and for the ec n my as a wh le a kind of reducti n f 
indebtedness - illustrates the tendencies which run c unter to 
a reinvestment. 
In the end I c nfess that I probably at one or the other place 
used the terra reinvestment coefficient in the way in which you 
underst ood it i e simply relation 'f investment to that of the 
preceding peri d , taking the trend values. If the trend were 
explained by a difference equation >f the first order such as 
- k y t-i 
then there would be no difference between the two meanings. 
As to your second question about lag: No, the lag is that 
of diffusion, which may be quite long - until(practically) everybody 
has introduced the new method. That does not eaclude that you