ABSTRACT

The financial crisis of 2007 required the economics discipline to thoroughly re-evaluate its prevailing theories about economic cycles and economic growth. With a focus on Europe, this volume identifies the latest strands of research on business cycles, monetary theory, the evolution of social policies and public spending, and the institutional context of the European Union. It also considers whether these new ideas could have helped us avoid the crisis, and how they might reshape the current economic paradigm.

This book will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in European economics, macroeconomics and economic history.

part I|58 pages

Developments in business cycle theory

chapter 2|40 pages

Business cycle to 2008’s crisis

How system dynamics can help the economists to understand financial crisis 1

part II|82 pages

Monetary and fiscal policies

chapter 5|26 pages

The limitations of national budgetary deficits and other Eurozone rules

The near-failures of their implementation and the excessive delays (20 years) in the introduction of a European budgetary stabilization mechanism

chapter 6|18 pages

Social spending as a driver of economic growth

Has the theoretical consensus of the 1980s led to successful economic policies?

part III|72 pages

Economic thought and political confrontation