Asset Accumulation and Economic Activity: Reflections on Contemporary Macroeconomic Theory

by James Tobin

In this work James Tobin discusses two major issues of the strength of automatic market forces in maintaining full employment equilibrium and the efficacy of government fiscal and monetary policies in stabilizing the economy.

Genres: Economics

116 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 1982

About the author

James Tobin was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He developed the ideas of Keynesian economics, and advocated government intervention to stabilize output and avoid recessions.

Reviews

[Richard Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read of this collection of four essays originally given as the Yyro Jahnsson Lectures in 1978.

The four lectures:

1. Real Balance Effects Reconsidered
2. Policies, Expectations, and Stabilization
3. Government Deficits and Capital Accumulation
4. Portfolio Choice and Asset Accumulation

Dr. Tobin's conversational approach to the exposition of economic theory, steeped in the logic of Keynes, continues to elucidate the dynamics of the macroeconomy with greater clarity than the mathematical miasma of much of recent / contemporary science of economics.

An informing and enjoyable read.