Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Introducing Students To The Competing Schools Of Thought In Intermediate Macroeconomics, Harlan M. Smith Ii

Economics Faculty Research

The article discusses how the intermediate macroeconomics instructor can introduce students to ways of old and new Keynesians and classical theorists addressed the question on why output and employment fluctuate. Keynesian macroeconomics characterizes a school of thought developed around two central prepositions. New Keynesians develop alternative ways of explaining short-run movements in output and employment in the early 1970's. All individuals maximize utility, firm maximizes profits. Recently, new classicals developed an alternative approach in explaining short-run fluctuation in employment and output by redefining the concept of the short run.