Economists & Theorists

Tyler Cowen puts Keynesian, monetarist, real business cycle, and Austrian theories to work to explain a downturn from recent economic history: the Great Recession.

Meet the monetarists! This business cycle theory emphasizes the effect of the money supply and the central bank on the economy.

Imagine you’re an employer during a recession, and you desperately need to cut labour costs to keep your firm afloat. Are you more likely to cut wages across the board for all employees, or institute layoffs for only some? While it may seem that wage cuts are the “better” choice, they aren’t as common as you might think. Why is that?

Everyday, you make tons of decisions about consumption. Your choices about what and how much of a good to buy are influenced by the laws of supply and demand. These choices are nearly endless. For example, at Starbucks, each drink is highly customizable. In fact, they offer over 80,000 combinations!