Modern Macroeconomics: Its Origins, Development And Current State [Hardcover]

Brian Snowdon (Author), Howard R. Vane (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 184376394X | ISBN-13: 978-1843763949 | Publication Date: April 5, 2005

More than a decade after the publication of the critically acclaimed A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics, Brian Snowdon and Howard Vane have produced a worthy successor in the form of Modern Macroeconomics. Thoroughly extended, revised and updated, it will become the indispensable text for students and teachers of macroeconomics in the new millennium.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Brian Snowdon and Howard Vane are well-known for their astute understanding of the main macroeconomic schools of thought and their skilled use of interviews with major figures. Here, they deploy a depth of scholarship in explaining the different schools and their key points of departure from one another. This book will be particularly useful to students looking for a clear, non-technical explanation of the main approaches to macroeconomics.' - Patrick Minford, Cardiff University, UK 'There are two steps to learning macroeconomics. First, to see it as it is today. Second, to understand how it got there: to understand the right and the wrong turns, the hypotheses that proved false, the insights that proved true, and the interaction of events and ideas. Only then, does one truly understand macroeconomics. This book is about step two. It does a marvellous job of it. The presentation is transparent, the interviews fascinating. You will enjoy, and you will learn.' - Olivier Blanchard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US 'In 40 years of teaching macroeconomics, there has been just one textbook that I have assigned year after year after year, namely, A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics by Snowdon, Vane and Wynarczyk. That altogether admirable book made clear to students what were, and are, the main intellectual issues in macroeconomics and did so with just enough formal modeling to avoid distortion by over-simplification. That book is now ten years old and the debate in macro has moved on. So there is good reason to welcome Snowdon and Vane back with this superb updated version.' - Axel Leijonhufvud, University of Trento, Italy 'This outstanding book avoids the narrow scope of most textbooks and provides an excellent guide to an unusually broad range of ideas.' - Thomas Mayer, University of California, Davis, US"

About the Author

Brian Snowdon, Principal Lecturer in Economics, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK and Howard R. Vane, Professor of Economics, School of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Liverpool John Moores University, UK

Product Details

• Hardcover: 807 pages
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184376394X
• ISBN-13: 978-1843763949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,235,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for every budding macroeconomist, April 9, 2006

By 

Majid Al-Sadoon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Macroeconomics: Its Origins, Development And Current State (Paperback)

The book surveys all of the major intellectual trends within macroeconomics since Keynes. The writing is clear, which is atypical for most economics books, and the discussion is rich with lore and plenty of references (the bibliography is over 80 pages!) It really filled many gaps in my understanding of macro. I recommend this book for graduate macro students and advanced undergraduates; others might find it hard to appreciate the models and the ideas if they don't have a good understanding of at least intermediate macro. Last but not least, the interviews are truly inspirational; I found myself hurrying through the chapters to get to the interviews as quickly as possible!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Macroeconomic Overview, February 8, 2007

By 

Qualified opinion (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Macroeconomics: Its Origins, Development And Current State (Paperback)

This book is a nice overview of the main macro theories with a non-mathematical slant. But do not take it for a macro "overview for dummies". To fully appreciate the subtle nuances between competing views, one must have a firm grasp of macroeconomics.

Also, the interviews are really enjoyable and enlightening.

As a suggestion for next editions, i would like to read an interview with michael woodford, and a full chapter on the "new neoclassical synthesis".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an interesting book - highly useful too!, October 16, 2009

By 

Praveen Kishore (Harvard, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Modern Macroeconomics: Its Origins, Development And Current State (Paperback)

This is undoubtedly the best book for an advanced introduction to Macroeconomics at graduate level, before one takes up more technical macro/growth theory books like Romer, Obsfield or Barro etc. It approaches the subject 'macro school' wise, ie by taking a historical and chronological methodology which makes the subject much more interesting, providing a clear conceptual background of the development of macroeconomics as a separate field in past 70-80 years. Starting from Keynes, it discusses all the major development, concepts, theory, models and their interrelationships in macroeconomics today including the recent spurt in growth theory analysis.
It is a must read not only for any budding economists but also for well informed general readers interested in economics as a whole.