ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter is firmly based on the idea that there is a common core of heterodox macroeconomics. It seeks to sketch the contents of that core, and to briefly consider some of the implications of the heterodox analysis particularly in the policy direction. In this chapter I have avoided using the term post-Keynesian (rather than heterodox) as many of the propositions advanced below either do not make an appearance in Keynes’ writings or run counter to his analysis (and it enables me to side-step the issue of what is post-Keynesian, though leaving the question of what are the boundaries of heterodox macroeconomics). Although we do not seek to ascribe the origins of the ideas sketched here, many of them come from the works of Kaldor, Kalecki and Robinson. The chapter outlines what are considered to be the eight key features of a heterodox macroeconomic analysis. The following section draws out three sets of implications from those features. Whilst we would argue that the eight features listed are the central ones, the three sets of implications are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.
