James K. Galbraith (The Jerome Levy Economics Institute)
Abstract
In this working paper James K. Galbraith, professor of economics at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, rejects the analytical construct within which many economists currently operate, that is, the construct in which in the extreme macroeconomic behavior is identical to the behavior reflected in microeconomic demand and supply curves. He rejects it on the theoretical and practical grounds that microeconomic categories (supply, demand, price, and quantities) "have little bearing on important policy questions." The markets that have a bearing on policy are either asset markets (for which the rules are dramatically different from those for flow markets) or are not really markets at all but, rather, a set of deeply structural social relations. According to such thinking, microeconomic issues become secondary in the policy arena and macroeconomic policy tools—spending, taxes, incomes policies, and interest rates—take the fore.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Macroeconomics with number
9810003.
Length: 31 pages Date of creation: 20 Oct 1998 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpma:9810003
Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC; to print on PostScript; pages: 31; figures: included Contact details of provider: Web page: http://129.3.20.41
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (EconWPA).
Related research
Keywords:
Find related papers by JEL classification: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
References listed on IDEAS 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.: