Macroeconomics with J.W. Mason, Lecture 0: Introduction

This lecture acts as an introduction to the Macroeconomics course (ECON 720) at John Jay College. Throughout the lecture, the classical and Keynesian conceptions of macroeconomic relationships are contrasted. More specifically, an increasingly detailed flow chart, representing the Keynesian conception of the economy, is constructed and contrasted against a flow chart representing the classical view of the economy. The flowchart starts off very simply as a demand-determined model of economic output, then becomes more sophisticated as extra elements are added. These elements are: - the labour market and unemployment - the Phillips Curve and inflation - a central bank and monetary policy - debt dynamics and fiscal policy - supply-side considerations, including secular stagnation and hysteresis - profit and accumulation - a Keynesian accelerator - open economy considerations (including exchange rates, financial flows and balance of payments)

Comment from our editors:

Again, this lecture is only the introduction to a full course (ECON 720 at John Jay College).

The full lecture series is available as a playlist on Youtube on the John Jay College.

A version of the Keynesian flowchart, called a "macro map", can be seen by going to this link.

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