A History of Macroeconomics from Keynes to Lucas and Beyond

This book retraces the history of macroeconomics from Keynes's General Theory to the present. Central to it is the contrast between a Keynesian era and a Lucasian - or dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) - era, each ruled by distinct methodological standards. In the Keynesian era, the book studies the following theories: Keynesian macroeconomics, monetarism, disequilibrium macroeconomics (Patinkin, Leijongufvud and Clower), non-Walrasian equilibrium models, and first-generation new Keynesian models. Three stages are identified in the DSGE era: new classical macroeconomics (Lucas), RBC modelling, and second-generation new Keynesian modeling. The book also examines a few selected works aimed at presenting alternatives to Lucasian macroeconomics. While not eschewing analytical content, Michel De Vroey focuses on substantive assessments, and the models studied are presented in a pedagogical and vivid yet critical way.

Introduction; Part I. Keynes and Keynesian Macroeconomics: 1. Keynes's General Theory; 2. Keynesian macroeconomics; 3. The neoclassical synthesis program: Klein and Patinkin; 4. Monetarism; 5. Phelps and Friedman: the natural rate of unemployment; 6. Leijonhufvud and Clower; 7. Non-Walrasian equilibrium models; 8. Assessment; Part II. DSGE Macroeconomics: 9. Lucas and the emergence of DSGE macroeconomics; 10. A methodological breach; 11. Assessing Lucas; 12. Early reactions to Lucas; 13. Reacting to Lucas: first generation new Keynesians; 14. Reacting to Lucas: alternative research lines; 15. Real business cycle modeling: Kydland and Prescott's contribution; 16. Real business cycle modeling: critical reactions and further developments; 17. Real business cycle modeling: assessment; 18. Second generation new Keynesian modeling; Part III. A Broader Perspective: 19. The history of macroeconomics against the Marshall–Walras divide; 20. Standing up to DSGE macroeconomics; 21. Looking back, looking ahead.

Michel De Vroey is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Louvain and visiting professor at the Université Saint Louis, Brussels. He has published several books, including Involuntary Unemployment: The Elusive Quest for a Theory (2007) and Keynes, Lucas: D'une macroéconomie à l'autre (2009). He has also published extensively in scholarly journals.