In search of lost time: the neoclassical synthesis
-
Michel De Vroey
Abstract
Present-day macroeconomics has sometimes been dubbed “the new neoclassical synthesis”, suggesting that it constitutes a reincarnation of the neoclassical synthesis of the 1950s. This paper assesses this understanding. To this end, we examine the contents of the “old” and the “new” neoclassical syntheses. We show that the neoclassical synthesis originally had no fixed content, but two meanings gradually became dominant. First, it designates the program of integrating Keynesian and Walrasian theory. Second, it designates the methodological principle that in macroeconomics it is better to have alternative models geared towards different purposes than a hegemonic general equilibrium model. The paper documents that: (a) the first program was never achieved; (b) Lucas’s criticisms of Keynesian macroeconomics eventually caused the neoclassical synthesis program to vanish from the scene; (c) the rise of DSGE macroeconomics marked the end of the neoclassical synthesis mark II; and (d) contrary to present-day understanding, the link between the old and the new synthesis is at best weak.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Advances
- How have global shocks impacted the real effective exchange rates of individual euro area countries since the euro’s creation?
- Employment by age, education, and economic growth: effects of fiscal policy composition in general equilibrium
- Overeducation and skill-biased technical change
- Strategic wage bargaining, labor market volatility, and persistence
- Households’ uncertainty about Medicare policy
- Contributions
- Deconstructing shocks and persistence in OECD real exchange rates1)
- A contribution to the empirics of welfare growth
- Development accounting with wedges: the experience of six European countries
- Implementation cycles, growth and the labor market
- International technology adoption, R&D, and productivity growth
- Bequest taxes, donations, and house prices
- Business cycle accounting of the BRIC economies
- Privately optimal severance pay
- Small business loan guarantees as insurance against aggregate risks
- Output growth and unexpected government expenditures
- International business cycles and remittance flows
- Effects of productivity shocks on hours worked: UK evidence
- A prior predictive analysis of the effects of Loss Aversion/Narrow Framing in a macroeconomic model for asset pricing
- Exchange rate pass-through and fiscal multipliers
- Credit demand, credit supply, and economic activity
- Distortions, structural transformation and the Europe-US income gap
- Monetary policy shocks and real commodity prices
- Topics
- News-driven international business cycles
- Business cycle dynamics across the US states
- Required reserves as a credit policy tool
- The macroeconomic effects of the 35-h workweek regulation in France
- Productivity and resource misallocation in Latin America1)
- Information and communication technologies over the business cycle
- In search of lost time: the neoclassical synthesis
- Divorce laws and divorce rate in the US
- Is the “Great Recession” really so different from the past?
- Monetary business cycle accounting for Sweden
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Advances
- How have global shocks impacted the real effective exchange rates of individual euro area countries since the euro’s creation?
- Employment by age, education, and economic growth: effects of fiscal policy composition in general equilibrium
- Overeducation and skill-biased technical change
- Strategic wage bargaining, labor market volatility, and persistence
- Households’ uncertainty about Medicare policy
- Contributions
- Deconstructing shocks and persistence in OECD real exchange rates1)
- A contribution to the empirics of welfare growth
- Development accounting with wedges: the experience of six European countries
- Implementation cycles, growth and the labor market
- International technology adoption, R&D, and productivity growth
- Bequest taxes, donations, and house prices
- Business cycle accounting of the BRIC economies
- Privately optimal severance pay
- Small business loan guarantees as insurance against aggregate risks
- Output growth and unexpected government expenditures
- International business cycles and remittance flows
- Effects of productivity shocks on hours worked: UK evidence
- A prior predictive analysis of the effects of Loss Aversion/Narrow Framing in a macroeconomic model for asset pricing
- Exchange rate pass-through and fiscal multipliers
- Credit demand, credit supply, and economic activity
- Distortions, structural transformation and the Europe-US income gap
- Monetary policy shocks and real commodity prices
- Topics
- News-driven international business cycles
- Business cycle dynamics across the US states
- Required reserves as a credit policy tool
- The macroeconomic effects of the 35-h workweek regulation in France
- Productivity and resource misallocation in Latin America1)
- Information and communication technologies over the business cycle
- In search of lost time: the neoclassical synthesis
- Divorce laws and divorce rate in the US
- Is the “Great Recession” really so different from the past?
- Monetary business cycle accounting for Sweden
