Recessions and Depressions

The economy of any nation is an intricate web of relationships between the factors determining supply and demand, and everything that affects them, from inflation to taxes to the stock market. The study of business cycles attempts to explain why economies grow and contract, experiencing periods of prosperity and pain. Despite over two centuries of debate, no one has yet definitively unlocked the secrets of economic downturns and how they might be prevented. In Recessions and Depressions, Todd Knoop traces the evolution of business cycle theory, from the "classical" model, which preceded the Great Depression, through the ground-breaking ideas of John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and their followers. He examines the strengths and limitations of each approach, in terms of explaining the impact of such factors as government policy, money supply, labour productivity, and wages. In the process, he presents an accessible introduction to what makes the economy tick, and offers new insights into understanding such historic events as the Great Depression, as well as more recent ones, such as the Asian meltdown in the 1990s, the financial crises in Latin America, and the U.S. recession of 2001. Knoop reminds us that economists' track record in forecasting business cycles leaves much to be desired, and the quest to fully understand what causes economic downturns - and their effects on individuals and families - continues.

ISBN 0275981622   Pages 240 ISBN13 9780275981624 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher ABC-CLIO   Weight (grammes) 640 Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc   Published in Westport Format Hardback   Height (mm) 240 Publication date 30 Jul 2004   Width (mm) 235 Library of Congress HB3711 \.K, HB3711 \.K, HB3711.K   Spine width (mm) 29 DEWEY 338.542   Academic level General, Professional / Scholarly, Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC22

1		Why study business cycles?		3
2		Describing business cycles		11
3		Early business cycle theories		27
4		Keynes and Keynesian theory		43
5		The monetarist model		61
6		The rational expectations model		79
7		Real business cycle models		93
8		New Keynesian models		107
9		Macroeconomic forecasting		125
10		The Great Depression		143
11		Postwar business cycles in the United States		159
12		A "new economy" in the United States?		175
13		The East Asian crisis		193
14		Argentina and the role of the International Monetary Fund		215
15		The great recession in Japan		229
		Conclusions : what we know and do not know about business cycles		245
App		Brief comparison of major business cycle theories		257

?[K]noop's discussion of the problems of macroeconomic forecasting, whether through the use of leading economic indicators, market indicators, or econometric models, is highly informative and insightful....[t]his book should be accessible to students, and they will gain a good deal of information about, and a fair understanding of, business cycles from reading it.?-EH.NET

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