28 The rhetorical perspective on macroeconomics Macroeconomics is good for making sense of the macroeconomy
Arjo Klamer
The purpose of macroeconomics
‘What is economics good for?’
Nothing. I think it is fun. I am actually amazed that I am getting paid for doing it.’
Whenever I speak with economists, I try to ask them what economics is good for. Quite often I receive an answer like this, or a variation thereof. The cynicism that speaks through such a response contrasts with the idealism that I hear so now and then in answers like:
‘Economics is good for a better world. I do it because I hope to influence policies, to get them better and so contribute to a more just, sustainable or free world.’
‘Economics provides ...
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