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The Sad State of Macroeconomic Theory

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Themes in Modern Macroeconomics

Abstract

In a recent textbook on macroeconomic theory (Blanchard and Fischer, 1989) one can read that ‘macroeconomics is at one of its most creative and productive stages, and we try to reflect that sense of excitement’ (p. 27). This audacious statement is true in so far as chaos is more exciting than order; it is certainly also true that a lot is being produced. Whether all this energy is being spent creatively — in the sense of providing steadily improving explanations of the real economic world — is, however, quite another question.

Comments and suggestions by participants in the Aalborg Workshop have been very helpful in rewriting (and expanding) this study, which was done during a Carlsberg Foundation fellowship in Churchill College, Cambridge. My greatest debt is to C. Heyn-Johnsen and K. Velupillai, who commented extensively on an earlier version of the study. I am also grateful to D. Heymann and G. Harcourt for comments on a first draft.

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  1. Helge Brink
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  1. University of Aalborg, Denmark

    Helge Brink (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

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© 1992 Helge Brink

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Brink, H. (1992). The Sad State of Macroeconomic Theory. In: Brink, H. (eds) Themes in Modern Macroeconomics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12511-1_2

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