How should Europe cope with the negative and still unfolding economic consequences of the current economic crisis? And why does Europe seem to be more conservative than the USA in dealing with the crisis? Since the outbreak of the current international economic crisis in 2008, the USA and many of the European countries have been tormented by high levels of unemployment and low levels of inflation, interest rates close to zero and fiscal policies of austerity. As such, the modern economic mainstream has been challenged by these empirical facts. Today, several years after the outbreak of the international economic crisis, supply side effects do not seem to be increasing employment as the modern mainstream claimed they would. Aggregate demand has to play a more important role in macroeconomic analysis than hitherto. That is, there is a need for alternative explanations of how a modern macro economy is expected to function and how the macroeconomic outcome could be manipulated by the right economic policy proposals. As expressed by the contents of the present book, a Post Keynesian understanding proposes such an alternative theoretically, methodologically and in terms of policy measures. This book will present new materials and approaches, especially new evidence and new views on the potential problems of public debt, the European Union and the present crisis, Central Banking, hysteresis in an agent based framework, the foundations of macroeconomics and the problems of uncertainty.

How should Europe cope with the negative and still unfolding economic consequences of the current economic crisis? And why does Europe seem to be more conservative than the USA in dealing with the crisis? Since the outbreak of the current international economic crisis in 2008, the USA and many of the European countries have been tormented by high levels of unemployment and low levels of inflation, interest rates close to zero and fiscal policies of austerity. As such, the modern economic mainstream has been challenged by these empirical facts. Today, several years after the outbreak of the international economic crisis, supply side effects do not seem to be increasing employment as the modern mainstream claimed they would. Aggregate demand has to play a more important role in macroeconomic analysis than hitherto. That is, there is a need for alternative explanations of how a modern macro economy is expected to function and how the macroeconomic outcome could be manipulated by the right economic policy proposals. As expressed by the contents of the present book, a Post Keynesian understanding proposes such an alternative theoretically, methodologically and in terms of policy measures. This book will present new materials and approaches, especially new evidence and new views on the potential problems of public debt, the European Union and the present crisis, Central Banking, hysteresis in an agent based framework, the foundations of macroeconomics and the problems of uncertainty.

This book contends that post Keynesian economics has its own methodological and didactic basis, and its realistic analysis is much-needed in the current economic and financial crisis. At a time when the original message of Keynes' General Theory is no longer present in most university syllabuses, this book celebrates the uniqueness of teaching post Keynesian economics, providing comparisons with traditional economic rationale and illustrating the advantages of post Keynesian pedagogy. Against a backdrop in which neo-classical textbooks prevail, the expert contributors demonstrate that Keynes and The General Theory possess indispensable insight that would furnish students with a clearer understanding of the world economy in which they live. They explore the teaching of post Keynesian economics from a number of different perspectives, covering topics such as open system theorizing, pluralism in teaching, rhetoric in the spirit of Keynes, uncertainty, expectations and money. A critique of mainstream and traditional economic textbooks is also provided. This highly unique and fascinating book will provide an invaluable reference tool for teachers and researchers in post Keynesian economics, as well as their students.

At a time of renewed interest in Keynes, this volume provides an illuminating and forward-looking collection of papers. They explain the meaning of Keynes s great contribution and also show how that contribution can be developed further for application to modern economic policy issues. Most important, the papers explain the ways in which Keynes's methodological approach is so different from that which continues to dominate mainstream economics and how productive it would be if that approach were applied to our modern experience.' - Sheila Dow, University of Stirling, UK'This book celebrates the 75th anniversary of Keynes's General Theory, which has proved yet again to be an endless source of inspiration. These authors take The General Theory as a point of departure from which to address the problems of today from fresh perspectives. This volume is indeed Keynes for today - and tomorrow.' - Victoria Chick, University College London, UK 'Keynes's General Theory for Today is a fine set of thoughtful and highly relevant essays. They relate several ideas of Keynes to today's happenings, putting forward modifications and extensions to take into account both short-term and long-term happenings in advanced capitalist economies. Especially useful are the investigations of Keynes's revolutionary methods of reasoning in economics, long abandoned by orthodox economists, to the great detriment of our understanding of what is happening and what may be done about it. These essays should be required reading for students, teachers and policy makers alike.' - G.C. Harcourt, University of New South Wales, Australia The themes of this important new volume were chosen to mark the 75th anniversary of the publication of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. The distinguished authors concentrate on the relevance of this seminal publication for macroeconomic theory, method and the politics of today. This is particularly pertinent as similarities with the 1930s are striking in terms of unemployment, low growth, financial fragility and the European monetary union resembling the gold standard. Illustrating new ways of understanding the importance of uncertainty in macroeconomics, particularly in view of the importance of finance and balance of payments imbalances within a monetary union, this book will prove a stimulating and challenging read for academics, researchers and students of macroeconomics, heterodox economics, and the methodology and history of economic thought. Contributors include: A. Carabelli, E. De Antoni, J. Galbraith, M. Hayes, J. Jespersen, M. Laine, N. Levy-Orlik, M.O. Madsen, T.D. Togati, A. Truger, J. Uxo, S. Voss