The velocity of money usually rises in expansions and falls in recessions This paper explains this pro-cyclical movement of velocity using two ideas: (i) during business cycles the movement of investment and consumption of durable goods has a larger amplitude than consumption of non-durable...

Macroeconomics has been dominated over the last four decades by the Rational Expectations Hypothesis (REH) which implies that economies are inherently stable. REH is a key element of the New Neoclassical Synthesis (NNS) macroeconomic model which has also played a dominant role in theory and...

The rational expectations hypothesis (REH) is the standard approach to expectations formation in macroeconomics. We discuss its compatibility with two strands of Karl Popper's philosophy: his theory of knowledge and learning, and his "rationality principle" (RP). First, we show that the REH is...

The paper analyses the dynamic behaviour of an economy when the central bank (CB) implements an inflation targeting regime. For this purpose, a simple macroeconomic model is constructed and subjected to formal dynamic analysis. A first result is that, under certain conditions, the emergence of...

Romer has proposed an alternative macroeconomic framework, i.e., the IS-MP-IA model. Its proponents claim that it constitutes a ‘modern’ view of macroeconomics. We show that the new framework is closely attached to the neoclassical synthesis and, in addition, fails to take account of: (i)...

We compare the “New Consensus” (NC) in macroeconomics as expounded in Woodford (2003) and the Post-Keynesian (PK) approach regarding the causes of a “liquidity trap” (LT). We argue that in the NC a LT is a phenomenon caused by unusually large transitory shocks that depress the...

This paper discusses the current 'new consensus' view on monetary policy and the theoretical framework on which that practical view relies, namely, the 'targets-and-instrument approach'. We argue that in the modern world of financial innovation and liability management central banks cannot...

This paper addresses the effects on employment and the price level of a range of factors including capital accumulation, technical progress and money wage changes by formalising the aggregate supply and demand framework posited by Keynes in his General Theory. We find that labour-augmenting...