A History of Macroeconomics

This book offers a history of macroeconomics (the study of “the economy” as a whole) from its inception in the interwar period to today. Its novelty is twofold: it goes beyond a history of theories to cover a wider range of macroeconomists’ practices; it relies on a growing body of historical research, challenging misconceptions commonly disseminated in macroeconomics textbooks. This is not “yet another history of macroeconomics”. It is one that should strike scholars and students in macroeconomics as novel. Such a history is needed because macroeconomics textbooks project a particular “identity” of the field, derived from a specific historical narrative, in which the field evolved through theoretical “revolutions” and “battles” between “schools of thought” initiated by “great men”. We argue that this misrepresents the actual dynamics of macroeconomics. Our history conveys a different perspective, highlighting a more diverse set of characteristics (what macroeconomics is about) and practices (what macroeconomists do). We emphasise how macroeconomics has always relied on the combination of research agendas (theoretical, mathematical, empirical, and computational); how the interaction with other fields (notably microeconomics and econometrics) has been constant; and how the field has been shaped by a cast of researchers with diverse geographical and institutional origins (some working within academia, others in policymaking institutions and private organisations). We bring these many dimensions together through a simple chronology outlining four periods: birth (1920s-1940s), bridges (1950s-1960s), frictions (1970s-1980s), and constellations (1990s-2000s).