Macroeconomics An Introduction

Macroeconomics: An Introduction, provides a lucid and novel introduction to macroeconomic issues. It introduces the reader to an alternative approach of understanding macroeconomics, which is inspired by the works of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and Piero Sraffa. It also presents the reader with a critical account of mainstream marginalist macroeconomics. The book begins with a brief history of economic theories and then takes the reader through three different ways of conceptualizing the macroeconomy. Subsequently, the theories of money and interest rates, output and employment levels, and economic growth are discussed. The book ends by providing a policy template for addressing the macroeconomic concerns of unemployment and inflation. The conceptual discussion in Macroeconomics is situated within the context of the Indian economy. Besides using publicly available data, the contextual description is instantiated using excerpts from works of fiction by Indian authors.

List of Illustrations; List of Fiction; List of Figures; List of Tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Note to the Reader; 1. What is Economics; 2. Conceptualizing the Macroeconomy; 3. Money and Interest Rates; 4. Income and Employment Levels; 5. Economic Growth; 6. Why Economic Theory Matters; 7. The Policy Objective of Full Employment; 8. The Policy Objective of Low Inflation; 9. Towards Good Economics; References; Data Sources; Index of Names; Index of Subjects.

Alex M. Thomas is Assistant Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India. His primary research is in the area of history of economic thought, with a special focus on classical economics. His research has been published in both national and international journals such as Economic & Political Weekly, History of Economic Ideas, History of Economics Review, and Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics.