Publish and Perish: Creative Destruction and Macroeconomic Theory

Artikel

A number of macroeconomic theories, very popular in the 1980s, seem to have completely disappeared and been replaced by the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) approach. We will argue that this replacement is due to a tacit agreement on a number of assumptions, previously seen as mutually exclusive, and not due to a settlement by ‘nature’. As opposed to econometrics and microeconomics and despite massive progress in the access to data and the use of statistical software, macroeconomic theory appears not to be a cumulative science so far. Observational equivalence of different models and the problem of identification of parameters of the models persist as will be highlighted by examining two examples: one in growth theory and a second in testing inflation persistence.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: History of Economic Ideas ; ISSN: 1122-8792 ; Volume: 46 ; Year: 2018 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 65-101 ; Pisa and Roma: Fabrizio Serra editore

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; History of Economic Thought: Macroeconomics ; History of Economic Thought: Quantitative and Mathematical ; Economic Methodology ; Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection ; Price Level; Inflation; Deflation ; One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models ; Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
• Subject: Macroeconomic theory ; Controversies ; Identification ; Economic Growth ; Convergence ; Inflation persistence

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Chatelain, Jean-Bernard ; Ralf, Kirsten
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Fabrizio Serra editore ; ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
• (where): Pisa and Roma
• (when): 2018

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.19272/201806102004
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/201652
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET