Politicians win elections by promising 'Jobs Jobs Jobs ' but in practice these promises quickly fall by the wayside. The Goals of Macroeconomic Policy asks why. It begins with the observation that there is no convincing economic argument that full employment should be the primary objective of economic policy in all circumstances. In the light of this it examines whcy policy has failed so consistantly. It explains this by a theory of the labour market which shows why most workers are happy to operate in a way which militates against full employment. It then proceeds to analyse the...

Politicians win elections by promising 'Jobs Jobs Jobs ' but in practice these promises quickly fall by the wayside. The Goals of Macroeconomic Policy asks why. It begins with the observation that there is no convincing economic argument that full employment should be the primary objective of economic policy in all circumstances. In the light of this it examines whcy policy has failed so consistantly. It explains this by a theory of the labour market which shows why most workers are happy to operate in a way which militates against full employment. It then proceeds to analyse the...

Labour economics have received less attention in macroeconomics despite the fact that involuntary unemployment is a pressing policy issue. Here the imbalance is redressed by focusing on labour-demand and labour-supply relationships.

This is a textbook designed for senior undergraduate courses in monetary economics, advanced macroeconomics, or macroeconomic policy. Students will feel comfortable with this material if they have completed an intermediate course in macroeconomics, relying on one of the more demanding texts in this field. The prime focus of the book is on the role of money in the macroeconomy and on the place of monetary policy as an instrument for controlling inflation and unemployment. There are only three important macrovariables that are features: the rate of inflation, the interest rate, and output or...