''Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures'' is a book on
macroeconomic
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
issues written by
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
s Bill Mitchell and Joan Muysken and first published in 2008.
Authors
Australian
Bill Mitchell is currently professor of
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
at the
University of Newcastle,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and an originator of
Modern Monetary Theory
Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) is a heterodox
*
*
*
*
*
* macroeconomic theory that describes currency as a public monopoly and unemployment as evidence that a currency monopolist is overly restricting the supply of t ...
. Dutch
Joan Muysken is currently professor of economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
Maastricht University
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities.
In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where he teaches
macroeconomics
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
and
labour economics. They are both
post-Keynesian
Post-Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought with its origins in ''The General Theory'' of John Maynard Keynes, with subsequent development influenced to a large degree by Michał Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor, Sidney Wei ...
economists.
Table of contents
;Part I Full Employment. Changing Views and Policies
::1. The Full Employment Framework and its Demise
::2. Early Views on Unemployment and the
Phillips Curve
The Phillips curve is an economic model, named after William Phillips hypothesizing a correlation between reduction in unemployment and increased rates of wage rises within an economy. While Phillips himself did not state a linked relationship ...
::3. The Phillips Curve and Shifting Views on Unemployment
::4. The Troublesome
NAIRU
Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is a theoretical level of unemployment below which inflation would be expected to rise. : The Hoax that Undermined Full Employment
;Part II Full Employment Abandoned. Shifting Sands and Policy Failures
::5. The Shift to Full Employability
::6. Inflation First: The New Mantra of Macroeconomics
::7. The Neglected Role of
Aggregate Demand
In macroeconomics, aggregate demand (AD) or domestic final demand (DFD) is the total demand for final goods and services in an economy at a given time. It is often called effective demand, though at other times this term is distinguished. This is ...
;Part III The Urgency of Full Employment. Foundations for an Active Policy
::8. A
Monetary
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
Framework for
Fiscal Policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...
Activism
::9.
Buffer Stocks and Price Stability
::10. Conclusion: The Urgency of Full Employment
Publishing
The book was first printed and distributed in
hardcover
A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...
by British publishers
Edward Elgar Publishing Inc. in 2008. There has been no
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
edition yet.
Reception
Reviews were generally positive. Economist and
fund manager Fund may refer to:
* Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money, or other values such as effort or time, for a project, a person, a business, or any other private or public institution
** The process of soliciting and gathe ...
Warren Mosler
Warren Mosler (born September 18, 1949) is an American hedge fund manager and entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of the Center for Full Employment And Price Stability at University of Missouri-Kansas City. and the founder of Mosler Automotive.
Mosl ...
, reviewing ''Full Employment Abandoned'' on the
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
website, wrote that "those...not all that interested in the details of
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
''per se''" should turn to Part III, "which outlines the imperatives of
non convertible currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
."
Philip Arestis, professor of economics at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, UK, wrote that the book "argues persuasively that
macroeconomic policy
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
has been restrictive over the recent, and not so recent past, and has produced substantial open and disguised unemployment."
L. Randall Wray
Larry Randall Wray (born June 19, 1953) is a professor of Economics at Bard College and Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, who ...
, professor of economics at the
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the university ...
, USA, also a
post-Keynesian
Post-Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought with its origins in ''The General Theory'' of John Maynard Keynes, with subsequent development influenced to a large degree by Michał Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor, Sidney Wei ...
economist, like Mosler, Arestis and the two authors, notes that while "orthodoxy only calls for greater market flexibility, less government intrusion, more individual responsibility, and —perhaps— a small role for positive action to promote education, training, and innovation," this book demonstrates "it wasn't always so." Wray writes that "
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
’s insertion of
expectations overturned the textbook variety of
Keynesianism
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output ...
, returning
macroeconomics
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
to its
neoclassical, pre-
Depression roots. What could be added is that Friedman cleverly reversed causality, from the Keynesian view that excess demand causes inflation to the now dominant claim that inflation reduces aggregate activity below equilibrium." He claims that ''Full Employment Abandoned'' "demonstrates that neither empirical evidence nor rigorous theory supports the theologically-infused consensus about benefits of low inflation and of the possibility of using
monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...
to get there."
Professor
Philip Lawn, of
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
reviewed the book for the ''International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment'' and wrote that it "convincingly demonstrates that unemployment is both morally indefensible and unnecessary."
Other reviewers and academics have argued against the notion of
Job Guarantee advanced by the book. Malcolm Sawyer, Professor Emeritus of Economics,
Leeds University
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
, pointed out that "should unemployment fall below some ‘natural’ level,
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
accelerate," and disputes the JG costs estimates as "too modest."
[Sawyer, Malcolm. (2003) "Employer of Last Resort: Could It Deliver Full Employment and Price Stability?", '']Journal of Economic Issues
The ''Journal of Economic Issues'' is an academic journal of economics. The current editor-in-chief is William Waller ( Hobart and William Smith Colleges).
It is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Association for Evolutionary Economics ...
,'' Vol. 37 #4, December 2003
Full style
*Mitchell, William & Joan Muysken: ''Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures'' (2008), Edward Elgar Publishing, 298 pp, Hardback,
See also
*
Unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
*
NAIRU
Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is a theoretical level of unemployment below which inflation would be expected to rise.
*
Modern Monetary Theory
Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) is a heterodox
*
*
*
*
*
* macroeconomic theory that describes currency as a public monopoly and unemployment as evidence that a currency monopolist is overly restricting the supply of t ...
*
Chartalism
In macroeconomics, chartalism is a heterodox theory of money that argues that money originated historically with states' attempts to direct economic activity rather than as a spontaneous solution to the problems with barter or as a means with whi ...
*
Job guarantee
*
Government accounting
*
Balanced budget
A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...
Notes
{{reflist
External links
Bill Mitchell's blog with "commentary on economic events"
Full employment
Keynesian theory books
2008 non-fiction books