ABSTRACT

Macroeconomic Analysis in the Classical Tradition explains how the influence of Keynes’s macroeconomics, including his changed definitions of some key macroeconomic concepts, has impeded many analysts’ ability to readily resolve disputes in modern macroeconomics.

Expanding on his earlier work—Macroeconomics without the Errors of Keynes (2019)—the author delves into more aspects of macroeconomic theory and argues for a revision of Keynes’s contribution to the field. Attention is given to theories and concepts such as Say’s Law, the quantity theory of money, the liquidity trap, the permanent income hypothesis, 100% money, and the Phillips curve analysis. The chapters work to build a careful critique of Keynes’s economics and make the case that the classical macroeconomics of Smith, Say, Ricardo, Mill, and others could help resolve present-day policy disagreements and redefine macroeconomic priorities.

This book provides essential reading for advanced students and scholars with an interest in the foundations of Keynes’s theories and current debates within macroeconomic policy.

chapter 1|11 pages

Introduction

The pervasive impediment of Keynes’s influence in modern macroeconomic analysis

chapter 2|27 pages

Interpreting Say’s law of markets or outlets correctly

The impediments of Keynes’s influence

chapter 3|19 pages

Could Keynes have made a legitimate case against John Stuart Mill’s statement of the law of markets?

An Illustration of Keynes’s Abiding Influence

chapter 5|18 pages

Milton Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis

A distraction from Keynes’s misrepresentation of saving as non-spending

chapter 7|28 pages

100% money

A harmful proposal appropriately ignored

chapter 8|27 pages

Keynes’s liquidity trap is impossible

Classical monetary analysis helps to explain

chapter 10|23 pages

The future of Keynesian economics

Struggling to sustain a dimming light

chapter 11|5 pages

Conclusion

Some policy implications of ridding macroeconomics of Keynes’s influence