Classical Macroeconomics
Some Modern Variations and Distortions

By James C.W. Ahiakpor
ISBN: 978-0-415-77110-8
Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
Published by: Routledge,UK
Publication Date: 1st August 2006
Pages: 258


About the Book
John Maynard Keynes failed to correctly interpret classic economic concepts, and dismissed the classical explanations and conclusions as being irrelevant to the world in which we live. The trauma of the Great Depression and Keynes's changed definition of economic concepts, aided by Eugen Böhm-Bawerk, have made it difficult for modern economists to fully appreciate the classical insights. 


This outstanding book clarifies the classical explanations to resolve the continuing theoretical and policy disputes. Key chapters include:
On the Definition of Money
Keynes's Misinterpretation of the Classical Theory of Interest
The Classical Theory of Growth and Keynes's Paradox of Thrift
The Mythology of the Keynesian Multiplier

This unique book demonstrates that it is Keynes's understanding of some fundamental classical economic concepts which is at fault, and extends its analysis to other modern contributions in macroeconomics.


Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. The Classical Theory of Value 3. On the Definition of Money 4. The Classical Theories of Interest, the Price Level and Inflation 5. Keynes's Misinterpretation of the Classical Theory of Interest 6. The Austrians, 'Capital' and the Classical Theory of Interest 7. Wicksell on the Classical Theories of Money, Credit, Interest and the Price Level 8. Fisher, the Classics and Modern Macroeconomics 9. The Classical Theory of Growth and Keynes's Paradox of Thrift 10. Full Employment: A Classical Assumption or Keynes's Rhetorical Device? 11. Hicks, the IS-LM Model and the Success of Keynes's Distortions of Classical Macroeconomics 12. The Mythology of the Keynesian Multiplier 13. Conclusion


About the Author(s)
Professor James Ahiakpor teaches economics at the California State University, Hayward, and was Department chair, 1994-2000. His restatements of classical macroeconomics have appeared in the History of Political Economy, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, American Journal of Economics and Sociology and Indepedent Review. He contributed to and edited Keynes and the Classics Reconsidered (1998)