What's incorrect amongst macro?

Reflecting on my overly grumpy last post , also every bit many recent Krugman columns , I intend in that place is actually a key consensus here.

There is , inward fact , a sudden carve upwardly betwixt macroeconomics used inward the altitude levels of policy circles , in addition to that used inward academia.


Static ISLM / ASAD modeling in addition to thinking actually did pretty much disappear from academic inquiry economic science roughly 1980. You won't honour it taught inward whatever PhD programs , you lot won't honour it at whatever conferences (except the occasional lunchtime "keynote speech" where an Important Person from the policy basis comes inward to enlighten us) , you lot won't honour it inward whatever academic journals (AER , JPE , QJE , Econometrica , etc. etc.).  "New-Keynesian" DSGE (Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium) models are much inward trend , but accept actually aught to practise alongside static Keynesian ISLM modeling. Many authors would similar it to live in addition to hence , but when you lot read the equations you lot volition honour these are simply utterly dissimilar models.

Static ISLM thinking pervades the upper reaches of the policy world. "Thinking" every bit , sadly , quantitative modeling of that persuasion disappeared inward the mid-1970s. But if you lot read the analysis guiding policy at the International Monetary Fund , the Fed , the OECD , the CBO; in addition to the larger policy ground inward the pages of the Economist , New York Times , in addition to quite frequently fifty-fifty the Wall Street Journal , policy analysis is pretty much unchanged from the Keynesian ISLM , ASAD , analysis I learned from Dornbush in addition to Fisher's textbook , taught inward Bob Solow's undergraduate Macro cast at MIT close 1978.   The staffs at these agencies write prissy academic full general equilibrium papers , but solely inward their "research" activities.

Thus , if you lot read Krugman's columns , you lot volition come across him occasionally crowing close how Keynesian economic science won , in addition to how the disciples of Stan Fisher at MIT accept spread out to piece of job the world. He's right. Then you lot come across him complaining close how nobody inward academia understands Keynesian economics. He's correct again.

Perhaps academic inquiry ran off the rails for forty years producing aught of value. Social sciences tin practise that. Perhaps our policy makers are stuck alongside uncomplicated stories they learned every bit undergraduates; in addition to , every bit has happened countless times earlier , novel ideas volition percolate upwardly when the generation trained inward the 1980s makes their means to to altitude of policy circles.

I intend nosotros tin concur on something. If i wants to write close "what's incorrect alongside economic science ," such a huge carve upwardly betwixt academic inquiry ideas in addition to the ideas running our policy institution is non a skilful situation.

The correct means to address this is alongside models -- written downward , objective models , non pundit prognostications -- in addition to data. What accounts , quantitatively , for our experience?  I come across old-fashioned Keynesianism losing because , having dramatically failed that exam i time , its advocates are unwilling to practise in addition to hence i time again , preferring a crusade of personal assail inward the pop press. Models aspect upwardly information inward the pages of the AER , the JPE , the QJE , in addition to Econometrica. If old-time Keynesianism actually does trouble organisation human relationship for the information , write it downward in addition to let's see.
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