Macroeconomic Regime for the 21st Century

The book aims to give non-economists a detailed understanding of how macroeconomic policy works in modern economies, and the issues it faces. The world has recently been through a huge economic crisis and thinking people everywhere have reason to wonder whether something is not seriously wrong with the policy regimes underlying these dramatic events in the major economies, and whether changes should be made. The author reviews the history of the successive regimes tried and found wanting in the second half of the last century and proposes a set of reforms designed to convert the flawed neo-liberal consensus of the 1990s into a durable regime for the present century.

At last a book that recognises that different policy mixes are appropriate for different circumstances. Christopher Taylor’s illuminating book presents macroeconomics as policy choices, rather than a menu of economic models. This gives his analysis a vitality largely lacking in more academic textbooks. No other book explains the complex macroeconomic policy choices faced by governments after the recent financial crisis in such a direct and accessible way.Dr. Jan Toporowski, SOAS, UKThe book provides both a valuable outline of the evolution of macroeconomic policy and a discussion of potential policy options for the future. This is a timely book, given the failure of contemporary economic orthodoxy to anticipate and prevent a financial crisis and global recession. Consequently, it can make a useful contribution to the debate on understanding past mistakes and how economic policy should evolve to meet the needs of the future.Prof. Philip Whyman, University of Central Lancashire, UK

Christopher Taylor is a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London. He worked as an economist at the Bank of England for 20 years until 1994, including a secondment as UK Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, 1981-3. Since 2008 he has been a lecturer and tutor for the MBA elective course on International Macroeconomics at the Judge Business School, Cambridge, where he is an Honorary Fellow.