Routledge Handbook of Macroeconomic Methodology

Description

The present macroeconomic crisis has demonstrated that a deeper understanding of the importance of relevant macroeconomic theories and methods is wanting. Additionally, lack of methodological awareness is behind much of the disagreement within macroeconomics which, looked upon from outside, often appears incomprehensible. The Handbook gives a structured presentation of the study of principles and procedures by which macroeconomics is researched, taught and communicated both within academia and to a wider audience, and why specific theories, research strategies and teaching are preferred. The principles of selecting theory relevant to real-world problems are the core of methodology. This book contains a broad range of arguments behind theory construction and appraisal and the consequences of these choices within the field of macroeconomics. An international range of experts provide clear analysis of key concepts, ideas and principles to give academics, students and others a better understanding of the macroeconomics behind policy conclusions which are put forward at different levels. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Illustrations List of Contributors Preface: How to use this Handbook and Acknowledgments Introduction: The Scope and Content of the Handbook Part I: Philosophy of Science Perspectives 1 Methodological Individualism and Macroeconomics 2 Deduction, Induction and Abduction 3 Instrumentalism 4 From Positivism to Naturalism in Macroeconomics 5 Holism and the Fallacy of Composition in Macroeconomics 6 Macroeconomics and Ethics Part II: Concepts 7 Time in Macroeconomics 8 Uncertainty and Macroeconomic Methodology 9 Path Dependency 10 Equilibrium 11 Causality and Macroeconomics 12 Microeconomic Foundations of Macroeconomics 13 Open and Closed Systems 14 Money and Macroeconomic Methodology Part III: Schools of Thought 15 Classical Political Economy 16 Neoclassical Macroeconomics 17 Keynes’s Macroeconomic Method 18 Post-Keynesian Methodology 19 Complexity, Policymaking, and the Austrian Denial of Macroeconomics 20 What was Marx’s Method, Actually? 21 Methodological Pluralism in Macroeconomics Part IV: Models, Econometrics and Measurement 22 Use of Mathematics in Macroeconomic Analysis 23 Explanation and Forecasting 24 Using Macroeconomic Models in Policy Practice: The Relationship between Models and Reality 25 Traditional Methods of Macroeconometrics 26 Macro econometrics: The Cointegrated VAR Methodology 27 National Accounts and Macroeconomic Methodology Part V: Communicating Macroeconomics 28 The Rhetorical Perspective on Macroeconomics: Macroeconomics is Good for Making Sense of the Macroeconomy 29 Teaching Macroeconomic Methodology Name Index Index