Book

Skidelsky, Robert, 1939- author.

Money and government : the past and future of economics / Robert Skidelsky.

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2018]

©2018

xix, 491 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

A critical examination of economics, past and future, and how it needs to change, by one of the most eminent political economists of our time. The dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only minor roles in economic life. Economic outcomes, it is claimed, are best left to the "invisible hand" of the market. Yet these claims remain staunchly unsettled. The view taken in this important new book is that the omnipresence of uncertainty makes money and government essential features of any market economy. Since Adam Smith, classical economics has espoused non-intervention in markets. The Great Depression brought Keynesian economics to the fore, but stagflation in the 1970s brought a return to small-state orthodoxy. The 2008 global financial crash should have brought a reevaluation of that stance; instead the response has been punishing austerity and anemic recovery. This book aims to reintroduce Keynes's central insights to a new generation of economists, and embolden them to return money and government to the starring roles in the economic drama that they deserve.

Macroeconomics.

Economic policy.

Economics.

Money.

Past and future of economics

Includes bibliographical references (pages 427-460) and index.

Unsettled Issues -- Culprits -- Brief Sketch of the Book -- Appendix 1.I: Ideas, Vested Interests and Cycles -- Mysteries of Money: A Short History -- Classical Dichotomy -- Origins of Money -- Value of Money -- Creditors and Debtors -- Origins of the Quantity Theory of Money -- Demand for Money -- Money, the Great Deceiver -- Conclusion -- Fight for the Gold Standard -- Prelude to the Gold Standard: the British Recoinage Debate of the 1690s -- Nineteenth-century Monetary Debates: An Overview -- Bullionists versus the 'Real Bills' Doctrine -- Currency School versus Banking School -- Bimetallism -- How Did the Gold Standard Actually Work? -- Quantity Theory of Money: From History to Science -- Quantity Theory of Money: The Two Branches -- Fisher's Santa Claus -- Knut Wicksell's Credit Money version of the QTM -- Was Wicksell a Quantity Theorist? -- Conclusion -- Appendix 3.1: Fisher's Equation -- Theories of the Fertile and Barren State -- Introduction -- Fertile State of the Mercantilists -- Wasteful State of the Political Economists -- Victorian Fiscal Constitution -- Persistence of Mercantilism -- Conclusion -- Keynes's Intervention -- Trouble with Money -- Problem with Fiscal Policy -- Macmillan Committee -- General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money -- Policy Implications -- Conclusion -- Appendix 5.1: Contrast Between the Classical and Keynesian Models -- Appendix 5.2.: The Fiscal Multiplier -- Keynesian Ascendancy -- Keynesianism Ascendant -- Full Employment Keynesianism: 1945-60 -- Growth Keynesianism: 1960-70 -- Reasons for the Strength of the Boom -- Stagflation Keynesianism: 1970-76 -- Great Britain: the End of the Keynesian Road -- Theory and Practice of Monetarism -- Keynes and the Classics -- Neo-classical Synthesis -- Emergence of the Counter-orthodoxy -- Monetarism -- Monetarist Experiment: 1976-85 -- Monetarism's Fiscal Legacy -- From Friedman to the New Consensus: 1985-2008 -- Conclusion -- Appendix 7.1: IS/LM, the Keynesian Teaching Tool -- Appendix 7.2.: The Modelling of Expectations -- Appendix 7.3: The Central Bank Reaction Function -- Disablement of Fiscal Policy -- Fiscal Crisis of the State -- British Debate -- Austerity: A Comparative Assessment -- Conclusion -- Appendix 8.1: Monetary Financing of the Deficit -- New Monetarism -- Pre-crash Monetary Orthodoxy -- Why Quantitative Easing? -- Quantitative Easing Programmes, 2008-16 -- How was QE Meant to Work? 258 -- Assessment -- Conclusion -- Appendix 9.1: A Note on Tim Congdon -- Distribution as a Macroeconomic Problem -- Indifference of Mainstream Theory to Inequality -- Microeconomics of Distribution -- Distribution and the Macroeconomy -- Modern Under-consumptionist Story 298 -- Conclusion -- What Was Wrong with the Banks? -- Pre-crash Orthodoxy -- Theory -- Understanding Banking: Some Essential Terms -- Loosening the Regulatory Noose -- Financial Innovation -- Conclusion -- Appendix 11.1: Why Didn't the Credit Ratings Agencies Do Their Job? -- Global Imbalances -- Introduction -- Pre-crash Bird's-eye View -- Some Basic Theory -- Current Account Imbalances as a Cause of Meltdown? -- Saving Glut versus Money Glut -- Banking Imbalances -- Conclusion -- Reinventing Political Economy -- Introduction -- What Should Governments Do and Why? -- New Macroeconomic Constitution -- Inflation Problem -- Making Banking Safe -- Inequality -- Hyper-globalization and its Discontents -- Reforming Economics.

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332.46 Skidelsk