A major argument used against the use of fiscal policy comes from the view that there are automatic forces within an economic system to ensure high levels of demand. This paper argues that the case for fiscal policy in general rests on the proposition that there are no such market forces that...

This paper reconsiders the case for the use of fiscal policy based on a "functional finance" approach that advocates the use of fiscal policy to secure high levels of demand in the context of private aggregate demand, which would otherwise be too low. This "functional finance" view means that...

Recent developments in macroeconomic policy, in terms of both theory and practice, have elevated monetary policy while downgrading fiscal policy. Monetary policy has focused on the setting of interest rates as the key policy instrument, along with the adoption of inflation targets and the use of...

Geoff Harcourt has been a thoroughgoing Keynesian committed to the achievement of sustainable (environmental and otherwise) and equitable (nationally and internationally) economic development and growth, and full employment of the available labour force. Achieving such an objective would...

The purpose is to examine some of the links in the chain which is said to run from the rate of interest to the rate of inflation. It is argued that that there is a tendency to slip from arguments which that the rate of interest is related to the price level to suggesting that the rate of...

This paper has the simple objective of exploring the implications of a Kaleckian (heterodox) macroeconomic analysis for the effectiveness of monetary policy, specifically one based on the use of interest rates to target the rate of inflation. The paper begins by setting out the essential...

The paper argues that macroeconomic analysis has to be based on path dependency which is treated as a broader concept than hysteresis. The ways in which path dependency necessarily arises in the context of the dual role of investment on demand and capacity formation are next considered. The...

This paper outlines an approach to ecological macroeconomics based on post-Keynesian and Kaleckian ideas. It views growth as demand-driven through investment, and focuses on the conflicts between that demand-driven growth rate, the growth of the effective labour force and the ‘nature...

Contrasts are drawn between mainstream macroeconomics (with the 'New Consensus in Macroeconomics' taken as the current manifestation) and heterodox macroeconomics and their abilities to comprehend the financial crises and world wide recession of 2007 – 09 for macroeconomic paradigms is...