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Unemployment, Inflation, and the Job Structure

Author

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  • 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.

Suggested Citation

  • James K. Galbraith, 1998. "Unemployment, Inflation, and the Job Structure," Macroeconomics 9810003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpma:9810003
    Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC; to print on PostScript; pages: 31; figures: included
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    File URL: https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/mac/papers/9810/9810003.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    • E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

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