
Snowdon & Vane Modern Macroeconomics
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Modern Macroeconomics
In loving memory of Brian’s parents, Joseph and Margaret Snowdon, and Howard’s father, Philip M. Vane

Modern
Macroeconomics
Its Origins, Development and Current State
Brian Snowdon
Principal Lecturer in Economics in the Newcastle Business
School, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Howard R. Vane
Professor of Economics in the School of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool,
UK
Edward Elgar
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Brian Snowdon, Howard R. Vane 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
Glensanda House
Montpellier Parade
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 1UA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
136 West Street
Suite 202
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 1 84376 394 X (cased)
1 84542 208 2 (paperback)
Typeset by Manton Typesetters, Louth, Lincolnshire, UK.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.

Contents
List of figures |
x |
|
List of tables |
xiii |
|
Preface |
|
xiv |
Acknowledgements |
xvii |
|
1 |
Understanding modern macroeconomics |
1 |
1.1 |
Macroeconomic issues and ideas |
1 |
1.2 |
The role of economic theory and controversy |
3 |
1.3 |
Objectives, instruments and the role of government |
7 |
1.4 |
The Great Depression |
9 |
1.5 |
Keynes and the birth of macroeconomics |
13 |
1.6 |
The rise and fall of the Keynesian consensus |
15 |
1.7 |
Theoretical schizophrenia and the neoclassical synthesis |
21 |
1.8 |
Schools of thought in macroeconomics after Keynes |
24 |
1.9 |
The new political macroeconomics |
29 |
1.10 |
The renaissance of economic growth research |
32 |
2 |
Keynes v. the ‘old’ classical model |
36 |
2.1 |
Introduction |
36 |
2.2 |
Classical macroeconomics |
37 |
2.3 |
Employment and output determination |
38 |
2.4 |
Say’s Law |
45 |
2.5 |
The quantity theory of money |
50 |
2.6 |
Keynes’s General Theory |
54 |
2.7 |
Interpreting the General Theory |
57 |
2.8 |
Keynes’s main propositions |
58 |
2.9 |
Keynes’s analysis of the labour market |
65 |
2.10 |
Keynes’s rejection of Say’s Law |
69 |
2.11 |
Keynes and the quantity theory of money |
69 |
2.12 |
Three important interpretations of Keynes |
70 |
2.13 |
The ‘new’ Keynes scholarship |
75 |
2.14 |
Causes and consequences of the Great Depression |
76 |
2.15 |
How to pay for the war |
82 |
2.16 |
Keynes and international macroeconomics |
83 |
v
vi |
Modern macroeconomics |
|
2.17 |
Keynes’s legacy and the classical revival |
85 |
Interview with Robert Skidelsky |
91 |
|
3 |
The orthodox Keynesian school |
101 |
3.1 |
Introduction |
101 |
3.2 |
The orthodox Keynesian school |
102 |
3.3 |
The IS–LM model for a closed economy |
102 |
3.4 |
Underemployment equilibrium in the Keynesian model |
114 |
3.5 |
The IS–LM model for an open economy |
123 |
3.6 |
The Phillips curve and orthodox Keynesian economics |
135 |
3.7 |
The central propositions of orthodox Keynesian economics |
144 |
Interview with James Tobin |
148 |
|
4 |
The orthodox monetarist school |
163 |
4.1 |
Introduction |
163 |
4.2 |
The quantity theory of money approach |
165 |
4.3 |
The expectations-augmented Phillips curve analysis |
174 |
4.4The monetary approach to balance of payments theory and
|
exchange rate determination |
187 |
4.5 |
The orthodox monetarist school and stabilization policy |
192 |
Interview with Milton Friedman |
198 |
|
5 |
The new classical school |
219 |
5.1 |
Introduction |
219 |
5.2 |
The influence of Robert E. Lucas Jr |
220 |
5.3 |
The structure of new classical models |
223 |
5.4 |
Equilibrium business cycle theory |
236 |
5.5 |
The policy implications of the new classical approach |
242 |
5.6 |
An assessment |
267 |
Interview with Robert E. Lucas Jr |
272 |
|
6 |
The real business cycle school |
294 |
6.1Introduction: the demise of new classical macroeconomics
mark I |
294 |
6.2The transition from monetary to real equilibrium business
|
cycle theory |
295 |
6.3 |
Real business cycle theory in historical perspective |
297 |
6.4 |
Cycles versus random walks |
300 |
6.5 |
Supply-side shocks |
303 |
6.6 |
Business cycles: main features and stylized facts |
304 |
6.7 |
Real business cycle theory |
307 |
6.8 |
The structure of a real business cycle model |
309 |
|
Contents |
vii |
6.9 |
Technology shocks |
313 |
6.10 |
A real business cycle aggregate demand and supply model |
315 |
6.11 |
Calibrating the model |
320 |
6.12 |
Real business cycle theory and the neutrality of money |
322 |
6.13 |
Measuring technology shocks: the Solow residual |
325 |
6.14 |
Real business cycle theory and the stylized facts |
326 |
6.15 |
The policy implications of real business cycle theory |
330 |
6.16 |
Criticisms of real business cycle theory |
332 |
6.17 |
Great Depressions: a real business cycle view |
336 |
6.18 |
An assessment |
338 |
Interview with Edward C. Prescott |
344 |
|
7 |
The new Keynesian school |
357 |
7.1 |
The fall and rise of Keynesian economics |
357 |
7.2 |
A Keynesian resurgence |
358 |
7.3 |
New Keynesian economics |
361 |
7.4 |
Core propositions and features of new Keynesian economics |
363 |
7.5 |
Nominal rigidities |
366 |
7.6 |
Dornbusch’s overshooting model |
376 |
7.7 |
Real rigidities |
378 |
7.8 |
New Keynesian business cycle theory |
396 |
7.9 |
Hysteresis and the NAIRU |
401 |
7.10 |
New Keynesian economics and the stylized facts |
408 |
7.11 |
Policy implications |
409 |
7.12 |
Keynesian economics without the LM curve |
423 |
7.13 |
Criticisms of new Keynesian economics |
428 |
7.14 |
An assessment of new Keynesian economics |
431 |
Interview with N. Gregory Mankiw |
433 |
|
8 |
The Post Keynesian school |
451 |
|
Paul Davidson |
|
8.1 |
Introduction |
451 |
8.2 |
The significance of the principle of effective demand |
453 |
8.3 |
Taxonomy |
454 |
8.4 |
Keynes’s taxonomic attack on Say’s Law |
455 |
8.5 |
Can relative price changes induce D2 to fill the gap? |
457 |
8.6Investment spending, liquidity, and the non-neutrality of
money axiom |
459 |
8.7What type of an economic system is ‘irrational’ enough to use
|
money contracts? |
461 |
8.8 |
Information, decisions and uncertainty |
463 |
8.9 |
Classifying decision-making environments |
464 |
viii |
Modern macroeconomics |
|
8.10 |
Keynesian uncertainty, money and explicit money contracts |
468 |
8.11 |
Conclusions |
472 |
9 |
The Austrian school |
474 |
|
Roger W. Garrison |
|
9.1 |
The Mengerian vision |
474 |
9.2 |
The intertemporal structure of capital |
475 |
9.3 |
Saving and economic growth |
479 |
9.4 |
The saving–investment nexus |
482 |
9.5 |
The market for loanable funds |
489 |
9.6 |
Full employment and the production possibilities frontier |
492 |
9.7 |
The capital-based macroeconomic framework |
496 |
9.8 |
Saving-induced capital restructuring |
498 |
9.9 |
Keynes’s paradox of thrift revisited |
501 |
9.10 |
The Austrian theory of the business cycle |
503 |
9.11 |
A Keynesian downturn in the Austrian framework |
509 |
9.12 |
Inflation and deflation in the Austrian theory |
513 |
9.13 |
Policy and reform |
515 |
10 |
The new political macroeconomics |
517 |
10.1Introduction: political distortions and macroeconomic
|
performance |
517 |
10.2 |
Political influences on policy choice |
518 |
10.3 |
The role of government |
521 |
10.4 |
Politicians and stabilization policy |
523 |
10.5Alternative approaches to the ‘political business cycle’: an
|
overview |
525 |
10.6 |
The Nordhaus opportunistic model |
526 |
10.7 |
The Hibbs partisan model |
532 |
10.8The decline and renaissance of opportunistic and partisan
|
models |
535 |
10.9 |
Rational political business cycles |
537 |
10.10 |
Rational partisan theory |
538 |
10.11 |
Opportunistic and partisan behaviour: a synthesis |
545 |
10.12 |
Politics, time inconsistency, credibility and reputation |
546 |
10.13Policy implications of politico-economic models: an
|
independent central bank? |
549 |
10.14 |
The political economy of debt and deficits |
554 |
10.15 |
Political and economic instability: are they related? |
555 |
10.16 |
The political economy of economic growth |
556 |
10.17 |
Political barriers to economic growth |
562 |
10.18 |
The size of nations |
564 |
|
Contents |
ix |
10.19 |
Conclusion |
565 |
Interview with Alberto Alesina |
567 |
|
11 |
The renaissance of economic growth research |
579 |
11.1 |
Introduction |
579 |
11.2 |
The ‘Great Divergence’ |
580 |
11.3 |
In praise of economic history |
584 |
11.4 |
Back to the long run |
585 |
11.5 |
Why is economic growth so important? |
589 |
11.6 |
Modern economic growth in historical perspective |
593 |
11.7 |
The stylized facts of growth |
595 |
11.8 |
Proximate v. fundamental sources of growth |
596 |
11.9 |
The Harrod–Domar model |
598 |
11.10 |
The Solow neoclassical growth model |
602 |
11.11 |
Accounting for the sources of economic growth |
612 |
11.12 |
The convergence debate |
614 |
11.13 |
Beyond the Solow model |
622 |
11.14 |
Endogenous growth: constant returns to capital accumulation |
625 |
11.15 |
Endogenous growth: the economics of ideas |
627 |
11.16 |
An augmented Solow model: a neoclassical revival? |
632 |
11.17 |
Focusing on the fundamental causes of growth |
633 |
11.18 |
Institutions and economic growth |
635 |
11.19 |
Trade and economic growth |
647 |
11.20 |
Geography and growth |
652 |
11.21 |
Growth in history: in search of a unified theory |
654 |
11.22The ideal conditions for growth and development:
|
rediscovering old truths |
657 |
Interview with Robert M. Solow |
660 |
|
Interview with Paul M. Romer |
673 |
|
12 |
Conclusions and reflections |
695 |
12.1 |
Introduction |
695 |
12.2Twentieth-century developments in macroeconomics:
|
evolution or revolution? |
696 |
12.3 |
Is there a consensus on key macroeconomic issues? |
703 |
Bibliography |
708 |
|
Author index |
791 |
|
Subject index |
803 |