The Macroeconomics of Self-fulfilling Prophecies Book

Graduate macroeconomics courses are becoming increasingly technical. Students must learn the tools of dynamic analysis and they must be able to apply these tools to the wide range of different models that constitute the body of macroeconomic theory. This text presents a unified treatment of these approaches by showing how all of the models are related to the microeconomic paradigm of general equilibrium theory. It particularly complements Blanchard and Fisher's "Lectures on Macroeconomics" by filling out the technical material omitted in that text. Farmer proposes that the general equilibrium model most appropriate as a basis for macroeconomics is very different from the microeconomic paradigm. In the context of macroeconomic models, he observes, it is often the case that the welfare theorems that capture the idea of "the invisible hand" will fail to hold. Farmer explains the consequences of this failure for the properties of dynamic economic models. Farmer argues throughout that the model of macroeconomics that is the best tool for understanding the facts is one in which the self-fulfilling expectations of individual agents can have important effects on economic activity. Several chapters present new research showing how the ideas presented in the first part of the book can be used to provide new insights into old problems.Read More