The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook

Mainstream textbooks present economics as an objective science, free from value judgements. This book demonstrates this to be a myth - one which serves to make such textbooks not only off-puttingly bland, but also dangerously misleading in their justification of the status quo and neglect of alternatives.In this much-needed companion volume to the popular , Tony Myatt reveals how the blind spots and methodological problems present in microeconomics continue to exert their influence in mainstream macroeconomics. From a flawed conception of the labour market, to a Pollyana view of the financial sector, macroeconomic principles as they are set out in conventional undergraduate textbooks consistently fail to set out a realistic, useful, or equitable framework for understanding the world.By summarising and then critically evaluating the major topics found in a typical macroeconomics textbook, the Anti-Textbook lays bare their sins of omission and commission, showing where hidden value judgements are made and when contrary evidence and alternative theories are ignored. The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook is the student''s essential guide to decoding mainstream macroeconomic textbooks, and demonstrating how real-world economics are much more interesting than most economists are willing to let on.>

Autorentext
Tony Myatt is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus, Canada.

Klappentext

By summarising and then critically evaluating the major topics found in a typical macroeconomics textbook, The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook lays bare their sins of omission and commission, showing where hidden value judgements are made and when contrary evidence and alternative theories are ignored. The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook is the student's essential guide to decoding mainstream macroeconomic textbooks, and demonstrates how real-world economics is much more interesting than most economists are willing to let on.

Inhalt

Tables and figures
Acknowledgements

Preface: What is an anti textbook, and why do we need one?

Part 1: INTRODUCTION

Ch1 What is macroeconomics
Ch2 Measurement, mismeasurement and omission

Part 2: LONG RUN ECONOMIC GROWTH

Ch3 Growth: what we know and what we don't
Ch4 Growth: happiness and inequality
Ch5 The financial system: the belly of the beast

Part 3: SHORT RUN FLUCTUATIONS

Ch6 Short-run macro models: a revolution that misfired
Ch7 Fiscal policy: why deficits and debt might not matter
Ch8 Money and banking: crony capitalism and the corruption it breeds
Ch9 Monetary policy: the fixation on inflation
Ch10 Unemployment and inflation: the political economy of unemployment

Part 4: CONCLUSION

Ch11 Summing Up