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The hollowing out of monetarism : the rise of rules-based monetary policy-making in the UK and US and problems with the paradigm change framework

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Clift, Ben (2020) The hollowing out of monetarism : the rise of rules-based monetary policy-making in the UK and US and problems with the paradigm change framework. Comparative European Politics, 18 (3). pp. 281-308. doi:10.1057/s41295-019-00186-1

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-019-00186-1

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Abstract

The demise of a postwar Keynesian policy paradigm of discretionary fiscal fine-tuning in pursuit of full employment is widely associated with the rise of a monetarist economic policy paradigm stressing fixed policy rules and money supply targets to secure price stability. Challenging these conventional wisdoms, and questioning the usefulness of the paradigm change framework, this article interrogates how far monetarism did replace Keynesian approaches to macroeconomic policy in the UK and US after the 1970s. Crucial aspects of monetarism – the commitment to abandon stabilisation policy and shift to fixed policy rules – were over-ridden shortly after brief, abortive attempts to use monetarism as a governing doctrine. A paradigm lens overstates the clarity of monetarist ideas, failing to acknowledge how these were reconciled to (New) Keynesian ideas by the end of the 1980s within a pragmatic composite (the Taylor Rule). The wider theoretical contribution of this article is to revisit understandings of paradigmatic change in political science and political economy. We argue that taking a paradigmatic view of economic ideas and their relationship policy orders can overstate change, overlook continuities and overrate the efficiency of punctuated change. It also under-appreciates scope to combine ideas from different paradigmatic homes.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Institutional economics, Monetary policy -- Great Britain, Monetary policy -- United States, Keynesian economics, Great Britain -- Economic policy -- 20th century, United States -- Economic policy -- 20th century
Journal or Publication Title: Comparative European Politics
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
ISSN: 1472-4790
Official Date: June 2020
Dates:
DateEvent
June 2020Published
24 April 2019Available
29 March 2019Accepted
Volume: 18
Number: 3
Page Range: pp. 281-308
DOI: 10.1057/s41295-019-00186-1
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): " “This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Comparative European Politics. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Clift, B. Comp Eur Polit (2019) https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-019-00186-1 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-019-00186-1
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
MRF-2017-063Leverhulme Trusthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000275

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