The Genesis of Macroeconomics: New Ideas from Sir William Petty to Henry ThorntonThis is a book about the discovery of macroeconomic ideas and concepts long before the term macroeconomics had been coined. The cast of authors varies from doctors and physicians (Sir William Petty and François Quesnay), to philosophers (David Hume and Adam Smith), to bankers (Richard Cantillon and Henry Thornton) to Prime Ministers of France (John Law and Anne Robert Jacques Turgot). These authors had very rich and varied careers and the book invites readers to imagine specific moments in their careers that influenced both their lives and their writings. Building on these events the contributions of each author are outlined and discussed. Examination of their writings show that by the start of the nineteenth century they had left a rich legacy of macroeconomics ranging from the analysis and measurement of national income, the depiction of the circular flow of income, the debate on the role of money in the economy, the way to model the economy, the importance of labour, land and capital, the role of entrepreneurship, the Central Bank as a lender of last resort, and much more. |
Contents
The Genesis of Macroeconomics | 1 |
2 National Income Accounting | 21 |
3 A New Monetary System | 43 |
4 Macroeconomic Modelling | 73 |
5 The Classical Theory of Money | 95 |
6 The Circular Flow of Income | 119 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Adam Smith agricultural analysis Ayr Bank balance of payments Bank of England banker banknotes believed borrowers Britain Buccleuch Cantillon 1931 capital circular flow commerce commodities Company consumption David Hume debt demand for money economic activity economic growth economists effect Encyclopédie entrepreneurs Essai expenditure exports farmers financial innovation flow of income France François Quesnay French further gold and silver Gournay Henry Thornton Hume’s importance interest rate investment issue John Law labour land landlords later Law's Law’s System Lectures livres London macroeconomics manufacturing merchants metallic money million Mississippi Company Mississippi System Money and Trade money supply national income output paper credit paper money Paris Petty’s Political Discourses produce profit quantity of money Quesnay Quesnay's rate of interest Réflexions Richard Cantillon role Scotland shares Sir William Petty surplus Tableau économique Turgot usury laws velocity of circulation Verbum Sapienti Wealth of Nations writing