If I was still teaching undergraduates, I would definitely use this book!

Roger E. A. Farmer, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UCLA, USA, and Professor at the University of Warwick, UK

I have waited nearly a decade for the sequel to one of my favorite academic books and it was worth the wait. Myatt has crafted an easy-to-read book that presents the mainstream view in a clear way on one page and then thoroughly debunks it on the next. His ability to be straightforward and brief is a breath of fresh air in Economics. I used his 'questions for your professor' sections when I was an undergrad and stunned my professors time and time again. I urge you all to do the same.

James Mathew Harris, Educator

Mainstream textbooks present economics as an objective science, free from value judgements. This book demonstrates this to be a myth – one which serves to make such textbooks not only off-puttingly bland, but also dangerously misleading in their justification of the status quo and neglect of alternatives.

In this much-needed companion volume to the popular Microeconomics Anti-Textbook, Tony Myatt reveals how the blind spots and methodological problems present in microeconomics continue to exert their influence in mainstream macroeconomics. From a flawed conception of the labour market, to a Pollyana view of the financial sector, macroeconomic principles as they are set out in conventional undergraduate textbooks consistently fail to set out a realistic, useful, or equitable framework for understanding the world.

By summarising and then critically evaluating the major topics found in a typical macroeconomics textbook, the Anti-Textbook lays bare their sins of omission and commission, showing where hidden value judgements are made and when contrary evidence and alternative theories are ignored. The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook is the student's essential guide to decoding mainstream macroeconomic textbooks, and demonstrating how real-world economics are much more interesting than most economists are willing to let on.

Read more

Tables and figures
Acknowledgements

Preface: What is an “anti” textbook, and why do we need one?

Part 1: INTRODUCTION

Ch1 What is macroeconomics
Ch2 Measurement, mismeasurement and omission

Part 2: LONG RUN ECONOMIC GROWTH

Ch3 Growth: what we know and what we don’t
Ch4 Growth: happiness and inequality
Ch5 The financial system: the belly of the beast

Part 3: SHORT RUN FLUCTUATIONS

Ch6 Short-run macro models: a revolution that misfired
Ch7 Fiscal policy: why deficits and debt might not matter
Ch8 Money and banking: crony capitalism and the corruption it breeds
Ch9 Monetary policy: the fixation on inflation
Ch10 Unemployment and inflation: the political economy of unemployment

Part 4: CONCLUSION

Ch11 Summing Up

Read more
The go-to, self-contained critical introduction to macroeconomics and student guide to decoding economics textbooks
Companion volume to The Microeconomics Anti-Textbook

Product details

ISBN
9781350323711
Published
2022-11-17
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight
620 gr
Height
232 mm
Width
156 mm
Thickness
22 mm
Age
U, 05
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Number of pages
408

Author

Biographical note

Tony Myatt is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of New Brunswick’s Fredericton campus, Canada.