The Development of Swedish and Keynesian Macroeconomic Theory and Its Impact on Economic Policy

by Erik Filip Lundberg

• ISBN13: 9780521142632
• ISBN10: 0521142636
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

These lectures are concerned with the origins of the distinctive policies of the Stockholm School of Economics, of which Erik Lundberg was a leading member. Lundberg explores the historical development of the Stockholm School and considers its place in the wider Keynesian tradition which dominated macroeconomic thinking in the West from the 1930s till the 1970s. The author examines the failure of Keynesian policies both in Sweden and internationally, and offers some tantalising and provocative remedies for future policy-makers to ponder.

Table of Contents

Editorial foreword

First Lecture: The Theories of the Older Generation Economist. Policy Applications in the 1920s:

Introduction

The first Postwar crisis (1918-1924)

The analysis of Swedish economists

The debate on economic policies

The suggested instruments of economic policy Second Lecture: The Stockholm School and Keynes. The Experience of the 1930s:

The birth of the Stockholm school

The Swedish economy in the 1930s

General features of the Stockholm school approach to economic policy

The theories of the Stockholm school and their policy implications

The disequilibrium approach of the Stockholm school

Further differences between the approaches of Keynes and the Stockholm school Third Lecture: Postwar Policy Issues and Policy Theories before the 1970s:

Evolution of the policy environment

Old traditions and innovations in policy analysis

Gunnar Myrdal's contribution and his opponents

Inflationary gap theories

The Rehn-Meidner model and the selective fiscal policy Fourth Lecture: The Disequilibria of the 1970s and the Need for New Policy Theories:

The imbalance of the Swedish economy: 1974-1981

The deficiency of policy models

New policy condition

The failure of Keynesian policies

Structural problems and supply-side economics

The debate about the size of the public sector

The need for demand and supply policies

Supply-side policies, efficiency and equity considerations

Concluding remarks on the role of economists

Discussion

Comments

Biography

Bibliography

Index

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