Post-Keynesian Monetary Theory recaps the views of Marc Lavoie on monetary theory, seen from a post-Keynesian perspective over a 35-year period. The book contains a collection of twenty previously published papers, as well as an introduction which explains how these papers came about and how they were received. All of the selected articles avoid mathematical formalism.
During the past five years, crises in the US savings and loan industry, commercial banks, and other financial institutions have borne out the ideas that Rousseas expressed in the first edition. His main theme stresses the role of innovation in the financial sector of the economy and its implications for control of the money supply and credit, as well as the larger issue of macroeconomic policy. He holds a Post-Keynesian view of an elastic and endogenous money supply that is largely founded on the "general liquidity thesis" of the Radcliffe Committee. Indeed, the elasticity of the credit structure is even greater than the Radcliffe Committee originally claimed. Tables and charts are revised through 1990, and the text has been revised accordingly. An expanded preface to the revised edition makes this book very relevant to contemporary problems and policy.
This book shows how the realistic foundations and stylized facts of Post-Keynesian economics give rise to macroeconomic implications that are different from those of received wisdom with regards to employment, output growth, inflation and monetary theory, and offers an alternative to neoclassical economics and its free-market economic policies.
How did economic ÒexpertsÓ worldwide fail to predict the financial crisis of 2007-2008? Eminent economist Paul Davidson discusses how mainstream economic theory may not be applicable to the world of experience. Post Keynesian theory is designed to be a
John Maynard Keynes is the great British economist of the twentieth century whose hugely influential work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and * is undoubtedly the century's most important book on economics--strongly influencing economic theory and practice, particularly with regard to the role of government in stimulating and regulating a nation's economic life. Keynes's work has undergone significant revaluation in recent years, and "Keynesian" views which have been widely defended for so long are now perceived as at odds with Keynes's own thinking. Recent scholarship and research has demonstrated considerable rivalry and controversy concerning the proper interpretation of Keynes's works, such that recourse to the original text is all the more important. Although considered by a few critics that the sentence structures of the book are quite incomprehensible and almost unbearable to read, the book is an essential reading for all those who desire a basic education in economics. The key to understanding Keynes is the notion that at particular times in the business cycle, an economy can become over-productive (or under-consumptive) and thus, a vicious spiral is begun that results in massive layoffs and cuts in production as businesses attempt to equilibrate aggregate supply and demand. Thus, full employment is only one of many or multiple macro equilibria. If an economy reaches an underemployment equilibrium, something is necessary to boost or stimulate demand to produce full employment. This something could be business investment but because of the logic and individualist nature of investment decisions, it is unlikely to rapidly restore full employment. Keynes logically seizes upon the public budget and government expenditures as the quickest way to restore full employment. Borrowing the * to finance the deficit from private households and businesses is a quick, direct way to restore full employment while at the same time, redirecting or siphoning
These two volumes cover the principal areas to which Post-Keynesian economists have made distinctive contributions. The contents include the significant criticism by Post-Keynesians of mainstream economics, but the emphasis is on positive Post-Keynesian analysis of the economic problems of the modern world and of policies with which to tackle them.
This visionary Research Handbook presents the state of the art in research on policy design. By conceiving policy design both as a theoretical and a methodological framework, it provides scholars and practitioners with guidance on understanding policy problems and devising accurate solutions.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the worldÕs leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of
'John Smithin's erudite and eloquent Controversies in Monetary Economics (now in a revised second edition) reminds us that a cashless economy is by no means a moneyless economy. Drawing on Keynes's concept of monetary production and on the later work of Sir John Hicks, Smithin argues persuasively for the continuing central importance of money in understanding interest rate determination and economic fluctuations. This insightful book illuminates the role of monetary policy, notably within the European Monetary Union.' - Robert W. Dimand, Brock University, Canada 'This book provides an excellent overview of the controversies that have driven debate about monetary theory and policy over the last two centuries. I highly recommend the book for use in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses. This new edition revises and updates some of the arguments, with some additional treatment of orthodoxy so that it can serve as a stand-alone text in monetary theory courses.' - L. Randall Wray, University of Missouri, US 'John Smithin is one of the deepest thinkers writing today about monetary matters in modern economics. Not only has he a thorough and full knowledge of past contributions, he is also an original thinker in his own right. The processes he depicts at work in modern economies are immediately recognisable and make good sense. He allies his theoretical understanding with advocacy of wise and humane policies. In John Smithin's writings the spirits of Keynes and Hicks live on, with also, dare I say it, the insights of Marx about the relationship between the real and the monetary in capitalism. Any student brought up on Smithin's clear and lucid accounts of controversies in monetary economics will have a firm grounding on which to base their understanding of the world around them.' - G.C. Harcourt, Jesus College, Cambridge, UK This influential volume, which has been revised and updated for the twenty-first century, includes both new material and more detailed expositions of existing arguments. Although so-called 'real' theories of business cycles and growth are prevalent in contemporary mainstream economics, Controversies in Monetary Economics suggests that those economists who have instinctively focused on monetary factors in explaining macroeconomic behaviour are more genuinely 'realistic'. The author combines an explanation of past and present monetary controversy with practical proposals for the conduct of monetary policy in the contemporary global economy. Several alternative approaches are discussed, ranging from the traditional quantity theory to post Keynesian theories of endogenous money. This insightful book will be of interest to all those concerned with monetary economics and macroeconomics, including academic researchers, graduate and senior undergraduate students - particularly those looking for an alternative to current economic orthodoxy - and historians of economic thought. Practitioners in central banks, international financial institutions, the financial markets and finance ministries will also find this work invaluable.
