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Treating Macro Theory as Systems Theory: How Might it Matter?

In: New Thinking in Austrian Political Economy

Author

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  • Vipin P. Veetil
  • Richard E. Wagner

Abstract

Standard macro theories have the same analytical structure as their micro counterparts. Where micro theories work with equilibrium between supply and demand for particular products, macro theories work with equilibrium applied to aggregates of products. This common approach treats the micro–macro relationship as scalable, with macro variables being aggregations over micro variables. In contrast, we pursue a systems-theoretic approach to the micro–macro relationship. This relationship is not scalable and rather entails a disjunction between micro- and macro-levels of theory. While micro phenomena are still susceptible to choice-theoretic analysis, macro phenomena are products of ecological interaction and so entail emergent phenomena. Our alternative approach treats macro theory as a form of systems theory where the behavior of the system has properties that are not reducible to properties of the individual elements within that system. Besides sketching this alternative approach, we examine some of the different insights this approach offers into such topics as unemployment and stabilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Vipin P. Veetil & Richard E. Wagner, 2015. "Treating Macro Theory as Systems Theory: How Might it Matter?," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: New Thinking in Austrian Political Economy, volume 19, pages 119-143, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaeczz:s1529-213420150000019007
    DOI: 10.1108/S1529-213420150000019007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Vipin P. Veetil, 2016. "The Mythology of Capital in the Twenty-First Century," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 31(Spring 20), pages 21-36.
    2. Vipin P. Veetil, 2021. "The pausing view of unemployment," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 435-446, September.
    3. Paul Lewis & Richard E. Wagner, 2017. "New Austrian macro theory: A call for inquiry," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Vipin P. Veetil & Lawrence H. White, 2017. "Towards a New Austrian Macroeconomics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 19-38, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Systems theory; complexity theory; emergence; non-equilibrium theory; microfoundations; countercyclical volatility; B25; B5; D23; D50; E10; E22; E32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • B5 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D50 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - General
    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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