Heterodox Macroeconomics
Models of Demand, Distribution and Growth
Published on 22. October 2019
Book
Hardback
592 pages
978-1-78471-889-3 (ISBN)
Description
The last few decades have witnessed an outpouring of literature on macroeconomic models in the broad 'heterodox' tradition of Marx, Keynes, Robinson, Kaldor and Kalecki. These models yield an alternative analytical framework in which the big questions of our day - such as how inequality is related to growth or stagnation, and whether long-run growth is stable or unstable - can be fruitfully addressed. Heterodox Macroeconomics provides an accessible, pedagogically oriented treatment of the leading models and approaches in heterodox macroeconomics with clear, step-by-step presentations of core models and their solutions, properties and implications.
The book begins with an overview and comparison of heterodox and mainstream approaches to long-run growth. Next it covers the core classical-Marxian, neo-Keynesian and neo-Kaleckian models of growth and distribution in the heterodox tradition. Numerous contemporary extensions, developments and alternatives are then explored, including models of financial instability, 'supermultiplier' models, and debates about whether capacity utilization converges to a 'normal' rate. The book also gives extensive coverage to models of growth in open economies, emphasizing the role of Kaldorian cumulative causation in fostering divergence among national economies, and the limitations imposed by balance-of-payments constraints on countries that rely on export-led growth.
Heterodox Macroeconomics will prove to be an invaluable text for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of macroeconomics as well as those in courses on post-Keynesian theory, structuralist macroeconomics, or other heterodox approaches to economics.
The book begins with an overview and comparison of heterodox and mainstream approaches to long-run growth. Next it covers the core classical-Marxian, neo-Keynesian and neo-Kaleckian models of growth and distribution in the heterodox tradition. Numerous contemporary extensions, developments and alternatives are then explored, including models of financial instability, 'supermultiplier' models, and debates about whether capacity utilization converges to a 'normal' rate. The book also gives extensive coverage to models of growth in open economies, emphasizing the role of Kaldorian cumulative causation in fostering divergence among national economies, and the limitations imposed by balance-of-payments constraints on countries that rely on export-led growth.
Heterodox Macroeconomics will prove to be an invaluable text for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of macroeconomics as well as those in courses on post-Keynesian theory, structuralist macroeconomics, or other heterodox approaches to economics.
Reviews / Votes
'The recent crises underscored the inadequacy of prevailing mainstream macroeconomic theory in comprehending the inherently instability of capitalism. This textbook by Blecker and Setterfield is a welcome and important contribution that presents an alternative approach to investigating capitalist macro-economic dynamics, drawing on both the Classical-Marxian and Post-Keynesian traditions. The workings of the models are presented a way that is clear and motivated by the relevant stylized facts. It also addresses some of the critical debates within these approaches like that around Harrodian instability and introduces recent developments and extensions of these core models - the impact of financialization for instance. Most refreshing, the text moves beyond equilibrium analysis that is the mainstay of macroeconomic theory to incorporate models not only of cyclical and disequilibrium dynamics but also a non-equilibrium neo-Kaldorian models of cumulative causation. This is an essential reading for students, teachers and practitioners of macro-economics.'--Ramaa Vasudevan, Colorado State University, US'In this comprehensive, up-to-date and brilliant presentation of the main models and problems in the field of economic growth, teachers and students alike will find a step-by-step learning path that is both reader-friendly and rigorous, covering from basic models to advanced discussions in the discipline. This excellent book is ideal both as a textbook for courses in long-run macroeconomics and economic development, and as an indispensable aid to researchers and policymakers seeking deeper understanding of the key ideas shaping debates on economic growth today.'
--Gabriel Porcile, UN-ECLAC
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78471-889-3 (9781784718893)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Robert A. Blecker, Professor of Economics, American University, Washington, DC and Mark Setterfield, New School for Social Research, New York, US
Content
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction: Competing theories of production, growth and distribution Part I Core models of growth and distribution 2. Classical-Marxian models 3. Neo-Keynesian models 4. Neo-Kaleckian models Part II Extended models of distributional conflict and cyclical dynamics 5. Distributional conflict, aggregate demand and neo-Goodwin cycles 6. Neo-Harrodian models and the Harrodian instability debate 7. New directions: Wage inequality, rentier income, financial dynamics and supermultiplier models Part III Kaldorian approaches: Export-led growth and the balance-of-payments constraint 8. Export-led growth and cumulative causation 9. Balance-of-payments-constrained growth I: Thirlwall's law and extensions 10. Balance of payments constrained growth II: Critiques, alternatives and syntheses References Index