Description: The recent financial crisis has demonstrated the dangers of ignoring the factors that led to previous crises, and the effectiveness of the policies designed to deal with them. Over time, these macroeconomic policies have evolved, oscillating between state intervention and a free-market approach. Following a story that runs from the pre-Great Depression era up until the Financial Crisis of 2007-11, this book reveals an intimate connection between new macroeconomic ideas and policies and the events in the real economy that inspired them. It does this in an accessible, easy-to-follow style, first by focusing on the developments of economic theories and policies, and then by concentrating on the design of domestic and international institutions and economic governance. Written by three leading experts on the history of economic policy, the book is ideal for graduates and undergraduates studying macroeconomics, monetary policy and the history of economic thought.
Brief description: Nicola Acocella is Emeritus Professor of Economic Policy at the Sapienza University of Rome. He has previously published three books with Cambridge University Press: The Foundations of Economic Policy (1998), Economic Policy in the Age of Globalization (2010), and The Theory of Economic Policy in a Strategic Context (2012) with Giovanni Di Bartolomeo and Andrew Hughes Hallett.
Review Quotes: "This is a very useful book for those among us interested in the evolution of economic paradigms, changing economic conditions, and their impact on economic policies. The authors succeed in highlighting how these changes have affected monetary and fiscal policies and how they push us towards designing better institutions."
Paul De Grauwe, John Paulson Professor in European Political Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science