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The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer

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Author Info
N. Gregory Mankiw

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Abstract

The subfield of macroeconomics was born, not as a science, but more as a type of engineering. The problem that gave birth to our field was the Great Depression. God put macroeconomists on earth not to propose and test elegant theories but to solve practical problems. This essay offers a brief history of macroeconomics, together with an evaluation of what we have learned. My premise is that the field has evolved through the efforts of two types of macroeconomists—those who understand the field as a type of engineering and those who would like it to be more of a science. While the early macroeconomists were engineers trying to solve practical problems, the macroeconomists of the past several decades have been more interested in developing analytic tools and establishing theoretical principles. These tools and principles, however, have been slow to find their way into applications. As the field of macroeconomics has evolved, one recurrent theme has been the interaction—sometimes productive and sometimes not— between the scientists and the engineers. John Maynard Keynes (1931) famously opined, “If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.” As we look ahead, “humble” and “competent” remain ideals toward which macroeconomists can aspire.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 20 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 (Fall)
Pages: 29-46
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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:20:y:2006:i:4:p:29-46

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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ian McDonald, 2008. "Behavioural Macroeconomics And Wage And Price Setting: Developing Some Early Insights Of John Maynard Keynes And Joan Robinson," CAMA Working Papers 2009-11, Australian National University, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ray C. Fair, 2009. "Has Macro Progressed?," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1728, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  3. Orlando Gomes, 2008. "Endogenous Growth, Price Stability and Market Disequilibria," Working Papers ercwp0608, ISCTE, UNIDE, Economics Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
  4. Tovar, Camilo Ernesto, 2008. "DSGE Models and Central Banks," Economics Discussion Papers 2008-30, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Brian Snowdon, 2007. "The New Classical Counter-Revolution: False Path or Illuminating Complement?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 541-562, Fall. [Downloadable!]
  6. Carmine Gorga, 2009. "Concordian Economics: Tools to Return Relevance to Economics," Forum for Social Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 53-69, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Luiz Carlos, BRESSER-PEREIRA, 2009. "From old to new developmentalism in latin America," Textos para discussão 193, Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil). [Downloadable!]
  8. Gomes, Orlando, 2007. "A two-dimensional non-equilibrium dynamic model," MPRA Paper 4817, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Pierpaolo Benigno, 2009. "New-Keynesian Economics: An AS-AD View," NBER Working Papers 14824, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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