IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/phsmap/v382y2007i1p89-97.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reflections on modern macroeconomics: Can we travel along a safer road?

Author

Listed:
  • Gaffeo, E.
  • Catalano, M.
  • Clementi, F.
  • Delli Gatti, D.
  • Gallegati, M.
  • Russo, A.

Abstract

In this paper we sketch some reflections on the pitfalls and inconsistencies of the research program—currently dominant among the profession—aimed at providing microfoundations to macroeconomics along a Walrasian perspective. We argue that such a methodological approach constitutes an unsatisfactory answer to a well-posed research question, and that alternative promising routes have been long mapped out but only recently explored. In particular, we discuss a recent agent-based, truly non-Walrasian macroeconomic model, and we use it to envisage new challenges for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaffeo, E. & Catalano, M. & Clementi, F. & Delli Gatti, D. & Gallegati, M. & Russo, A., 2007. "Reflections on modern macroeconomics: Can we travel along a safer road?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 382(1), pages 89-97.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:382:y:2007:i:1:p:89-97
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2007.02.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437107001409
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.physa.2007.02.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shyam Sunder, 2006. "Determinants of Economic Interaction: Behavior or Structure," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 1(1), pages 21-32, May.
    2. Kirman, Alan P. & Vriend, Nicolaas J., 2001. "Evolving market structure: An ACE model of price dispersion and loyalty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(3-4), pages 459-502, March.
    3. Mirowski,Philip, 2002. "Machine Dreams," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521772839, September.
    4. Hicks, John, 2017. "A Market Theory of Money," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198796237.
    5. Tesfatsion, Leigh & Judd, Kenneth L., 2006. "Handbook of Computational Economics, Vol. 2: Agent-Based Computational Economics," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10368, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Freeman, Richard B., 1998. "War of the models: Which labour market institutions for the 21st century?1," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Axel Leijonhufvud & Axel Leijonhufvud, 1999. "Mr Keynes and the Moderns," Chapters, in: Luigi L. Pasinetti & Bertram Schefold (ed.), The Impact of Keynes on Economics in the 20th Century, chapter 2, pages 16-35, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. K. Vela Velupillai, 2005. "The foundations of computable general equilibrium theory," Department of Economics Working Papers 0513, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    9. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    10. Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of Computational Economics," Handbook of Computational Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    11. M. Gallegati & A. Palestrini & D. Gatti & E. Scalas, 2006. "Aggregation of Heterogeneous Interacting Agents: The Variant Representative Agent Framework," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 1(1), pages 5-19, May.
    12. Sonnenschein, Hugo, 1972. "Market Excess Demand Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 40(3), pages 549-563, May.
    13. Mantel, Rolf R., 1974. "On the characterization of aggregate excess demand," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 348-353, March.
    14. Mirowski,Philip, 2002. "Machine Dreams," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521775267, September.
    15. Kam-Chau Wong & Marcel K. Richter, 1999. "Non-computability of competitive equilibrium," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 14(1), pages 1-27.
    16. Keen, Steve, 2003. "Standing on the toes of pygmies:," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 324(1), pages 108-116.
    17. Robert E. Lucas & Thomas J. Sargent, 1979. "After Keynesian macroeconomics," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 3(Spr).
    18. Vela Velupillai, K., 2002. "Effectivity and constructivity in economic theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 307-325, November.
    19. Howitt, Peter & Clower, Robert, 2000. "The emergence of economic organization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 55-84, January.
    20. Alan P. Kirman, 1992. "Whom or What Does the Representative Individual Represent?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 117-136, Spring.
    21. Debreu, Gerard, 1974. "Excess demand functions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 15-21, March.
    22. David Colander, 2005. "The future of economics: the appropriately educated in pursuit of the knowable," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(6), pages 927-941, November.
    23. K. J. Arrow, 1964. "The Role of Securities in the Optimal Allocation of Risk-bearing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 31(2), pages 91-96.
    24. Arrow, Kenneth J, 1994. "Methodological Individualism and Social Knowledge," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 1-9, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lengnick, Matthias, 2013. "Agent-based macroeconomics: A baseline model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 102-120.
    2. Di Domenico, Lorenzo & Raberto, Marco & Safarzynska, Karolina, 2023. "Resource scarcity, circular economy and the energy rebound: A macro-evolutionary input-output model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Alberto Russo, 2017. "An Agent Based Macroeconomic Model with Social Classes and Endogenous Crises," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(3), pages 285-306, November.
    4. Russo, Alberto & Riccetti, Luca & Gallegati, Mauro, 2013. "Increasing Inequality and Financial Fragility in an An Agent Based Macroeconomic Model," MPRA Paper 51528, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Neveu, Andre R., 2013. "Fiscal policy and business cycle characteristics in a heterogeneous agent macro model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 224-240.
    6. Wright, Ian, 2009. "Implicit Microfoundations for Macroeconomics," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-27.
    7. Özge Dilaver & Robert Calvert Jump & Paul Levine, 2018. "Agent‐Based Macroeconomics And Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models: Where Do We Go From Here?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1134-1159, September.
    8. Colombier, Carsten, 2011. "Konjunktur und Wachstum [Business cycles fluctuations and long-term growth]," MPRA Paper 104739, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Edoardo Gaffeo & Domenico Delli Gatti & Saul Desiderio & Mauro Gallegati, 2008. "Adaptive Microfoundations for Emergent Macroeconomics," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 441-463.
    10. N. J. Moura & M. B. Ribeiro, 2009. "Evidence for the Gompertz curve in the income distribution of Brazil 1978–2005," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 67(1), pages 101-120, January.
    11. Pasquale Cirillo & Mauro Gallegati, 2012. "The Empirical Validation of an Agent-based Model," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 525-547.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Troy Tassier, 2013. "Handbook of Research on Complexity, by J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. and Edward Elgar," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 39(1), pages 132-133.
    2. Antonio Doria, Francisco, 2011. "J.B. Rosser Jr. , Handbook of Research on Complexity, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK--Northampton, MA, USA (2009) 436 + viii pp., index, ISBN 978 1 84542 089 5 (cased)," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(1-2), pages 196-204, April.
    3. G. Fagiolo & A. Roventini, 2009. "On the Scientific Status of Economic Policy: A Tale of Alternative Paradigms," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 6.
    4. Giovanni Dosi & Andrea Roventini, 2019. "More is different ... and complex! the case for agent-based macroeconomics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 1-37, March.
    5. Dilip Nachane, 2017. "Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Modelling :Theory And Practice," Working Papers id:11699, eSocialSciences.
    6. Torsten Trimborn & Philipp Otte & Simon Cramer & Maximilian Beikirch & Emma Pabich & Martin Frank, 2020. "SABCEMM: A Simulator for Agent-Based Computational Economic Market Models," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 707-744, February.
    7. Giorgio Fagiolo & Andrea Roventini, 2017. "Macroeconomic Policy in DSGE and Agent-Based Models Redux: New Developments and Challenges Ahead," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 20(1), pages 1-1.
    8. Jean-Luc Gaffard & Mauro Napoletano, 2018. "Market disequilibrium, monetary policy, and financial markets: insights from new tools," LEM Papers Series 2018/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Jean-Luc Gaffard & Mauro Napoletano, 2018. "Hétérogénéité des agents, interconnexions financières et politique monétaire : une approche non conventionnelle," Revue française d'économie, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(3), pages 201-231.
    10. Barbara Dluhosch, 2011. "European Economics at a Crossroads, by J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., Richard P. F. Holt, and David Colander," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 629-631, August.
    11. Chen, Shu-Heng, 2012. "Varieties of agents in agent-based computational economics: A historical and an interdisciplinary perspective," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-25.
    12. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/dcditnq6282sbu1u151qe5p7f is not listed on IDEAS
    13. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/dcditnq6282sbu1u151qe5p7f is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Giorgio Fagiolo & Andrea Roventini, 2016. "Macroeconomic Policy in DGSE and Agent-Based Models Redux," Working Papers hal-03459348, HAL.
    15. Simone Landini & Mauro Gallegati & J. Barkley Rosser, 2020. "Consistency and incompleteness in general equilibrium theory," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 205-230, January.
    16. J. Barkley Rosser Jr & Richard P.F. Holt & David Colander, 2010. "European Economics at a Crossroads," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13585.
    17. Popoyan, Lilit & Napoletano, Mauro & Roventini, Andrea, 2017. "Taming macroeconomic instability: Monetary and macro-prudential policy interactions in an agent-based model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 117-140.
    18. Luca Riccetti & Alberto Russo & Mauro Gallegati, 2015. "An agent based decentralized matching macroeconomic model," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 10(2), pages 305-332, October.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5bnglqth5987gaq6dhju3psjn3 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Richard Holt & J. Barkley Rosser & David Colander, 2011. "The Complexity Era in Economics," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 357-369.
    21. Silvano Cincotti & Marco Raberto & Andrea Teglio, 2022. "Why do we need agent-based macroeconomics?," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 5-29, April.
    22. Lu Zhang, 2017. "The Investment CAPM," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 23(4), pages 545-603, September.
    23. Mauro Napoletano, 2018. "A Short Walk on the Wild Side: Agent-Based Models and their Implications for Macroeconomic Analysis," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(3), pages 257-281.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:382:y:2007:i:1:p:89-97. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/physica-a-statistical-mechpplications/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.