Oswald, Andrew J. (2010) Commentary on three papers. Capitalism and Society, Vol.5 (No.2). doi:10.2202/1932-0213.1073

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Abstract

Let me start with “The Slump, the Recovery, and the New Normal” by
Edmund Phelps. With this stone, I would like to hope that I am killing two birds:
Ned Phelps’s paper is, in part, a non-mathematical version of the
“Macroeconomic Effects of Over-Investment in Housing in an Aggregative
Model of Economic Activity”, written by Hian Teck Hoon. The first paper is in
words; the second has some words and, in parts, some Hamiltonians.
Both papers are extraordinarily stimulating. Both bear on the issues of the
day.
A key thing to say, and admire, about the first paper is the fact that in a
fairly readable way — not that it will be an effortless read for the non-economist
— it addresses the great macroeconomic issue of our time. Why did the
remarkable financial crisis of the first decade of the 2000s come about, and what
happens next? Phelps begins by pointing out that we experienced a major
contraction before in the post-war era, namely, during the severe downturn that
began around the mid 1970s and took unemployment levels to a frightening point
seen by few living worker (in my country, the UK, unemployment was 12% of the
labour force by the year 1983). That crisis took place as I was in the middle of
college; it encouraged in me an interest in economics.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009 -- Research, Report writing -- Reviews
Journal or Publication Title:	Capitalism and Society
Publisher:	Berkeley Electronic Press
ISSN:	1932-0213
Official Date:	2010
Dates:	Date Event 2010 Published
Volume:	Vol.5
Number:	No.2
DOI:	10.2202/1932-0213.1073
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access

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