The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook

A Critical Thinker's Guide

Tony Myatt

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781350323735
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Macroeconomics
• Index: Economics

Mainstream textbooks present economics as an objective science, free from value judgements. This book demonstrates this to be a myth – one which serves to make such textbooks not only off-puttingly bland, but also dangerously misleading in their justification of the status quo and neglect of alternatives. In this much-needed companion volume to the popular Microeconomics Anti-Textbook, Tony Myatt reveals how the blind spots and methodological problems present in microeconomics continue to exert their influence in mainstream macroeconomics. From a flawed conception of the labour market, to a Pollyana view of the financial sector, macroeconomic principles as they are set out in conventional undergraduate textbooks consistently fail to set out a realistic, useful, or equitable framework for understanding the world. By summarising and then critically evaluating the major topics found in a typical macroeconomics textbook, the Anti-Textbook lays bare their sins of omission and commission, showing where hidden value judgements are made and when contrary evidence and alternative theories are ignored. The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook is the student's essential guide to decoding mainstream macroeconomic textbooks, and demonstrating how real-world economics are much more interesting than most economists are willing to let on.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Tables and Figures
• Preface: What is an Anti-Textbook?
• Acknowledgments
• About The Author
• Part 1 Introduction
• Part 2 Long-Run Economic Growth
• Part 3 Short-Run Fluctuations
• Part 4 Conclusion
• Postscript: Climate Change, The Covid Pandemic, and Genuinely Full Employment
• Notes
• References
• Index
• Copyright Page