Trying to summarize the essentials of macroeconomic theory in the wake of the financial crisis that has shaken not only Western economies but also the macroeconomic profession is no easy task. In particular, the notion that markets are self-correcting and always in equilibrium appears to have taken a heavy blow. However, the jury is still out on which areas should be considered as failures and what which constitute the future of research.

The overall aim of this text is to provide a compact overview of the contributions that are currently regarded as the most important for macroeconomic analysis and to equip the reader with the essential theoretical knowledge that all advanced students in macroeconomics should be acquainted with.

The result is a compact text that should act as the perfect complement to further study of macroeconomics: an introduction to the key concepts discussed in the journal literature and suitable for students from upper undergraduate level through to PhD courses.

Contents

Introduction Part One: The Long Run 1. The Malthusian World 2. The Neoclassical Growth Model 3. Endogenous Growth Theory 4. The Overlapping Generations Model Part Two: The Short and Medium Run 5. Equilibrium Business Cycles 6. Financial Crises 7. Consumption and Saving 8. Investment and Asset Markets 9. Unemployment and the Labour Market Part Three: Macroeconomic Policy 10. IS-MP, Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply 11. Public Finance and Fiscal Policy 12. Inflation and Monetary Policy 13. The Open Economy 14. Mathematical Appendix

Author Bio

Ola Olsson is Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.