What They Were Thinking Then: The Consequences for Macroeconomics during the Past 60 Years

George Akerlof

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019, vol. 33, issue 4, 171-86

Abstract: This article explores the development of Keynesian macroeconomics in its early years, and especially in the Big Bang period immediately after the publication of The General Theory. In this period, as standard macroeconomics evolved into the "Keynesian-neoclassical synthesis," its promoters discarded many of the insights of The General Theory. The paradigm that was adopted had some advantages. But its simplifications have had serious consequences—including immense regulatory inertia in response to massive changes in the financial system and unnecessarily narrow application of accelerationist considerations (regarding inflation expectations).

JEL-codes: B22 E12 E31 E44 L51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.33.4.171
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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