Expectations Rationality And Economic Performance

'To a significant extent, the book is at the cutting edge of much economic thinking in microeconomics. . . it brings together nicely material on uncertainty, expectations and cognitive limitations and relates this to recent work in experimental economics.' - Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK 'For more than 200 years, economists have debated the microfoundations of their science. There is only one way forward and that is to carefully examine the nature and the rationality of decision processes. Professor Rötheli's book is unique. He offers an idiosyncratic blend of theoretical analysis and experimental research that enlightens and provokes.' - Werner F.M. De Bondt, DePaul University, US This book offers a broad perspective on the economics of expectations. Experimental studies are used to analyse how human bounded rationality affects economic performance. The challenges posed for policy making are also addressed. Tobias Rötheli begins by presenting the basic tools and theoretical models necessary to our understanding of rational and boundedly rational expectations and their role in economic life. Key topics discussed include expectations in general equilibrium theory, probabilities and expected utility, heterogeneity of economic agents, behavioural alternatives to forecasting and the effects of expectations heuristics, particularly in financial markets. The author then goes on to explore the fascinating insights behavioural economics - the empirical analysis of economic decision making - has to offer. Here experimental studies illustrate the effects of costly information, the role of pattern recognition as basis of expectations, anticipation and coordination failures, and the role of expectations in determining the general price level. The book also addresses the implications of the experimental findings for applied economics. Aiming to achieve the accessibility of a textbook, this research monograph will appeal to economic researchers interested in economic behaviour and theory, as well as students taking upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses. It will also be of interest to economists working in business and government.

This book develops the idea of rational expectations and surveys its use in economics today.

"Several areas in economics today have unprecedented significance and vitality. Most people would agree that stabilization policy ranks with the highest of these. Continuing inflation and periodic serious acceleration of inflation combined with high and secularly rising unemployment combine to give the area high priority. This book brings us up to date on an extremely lively discussion involving the role of expectations, and more particularly rational expectations, in the conduct of stabilization policy. . . . Anyone interested in the role of government in economics should read this important book."—C. Glyn Williams, The Wall Street Review of Books "This is a most timely and valuable contribution. . . . The contributors and commentators are highly distinguished and the editor has usefully collated comments and the ensuing discussion. Unusually for a conference proceedings the book is well indexed and it is also replete with numerous and up-to-date references. . . . This is the first serious book to examine the rational expectations thesis in any depth, and it will prove invaluable to anyone involved with macroeconomic policy generally and with monetary economics in particular."—G. K. Shaw, The Economic Journal

The papers in this volume provide a complex view of market processes.

What is Rational Expectations Rational expectations is an economic theory that seeks to infer the macroeconomic consequences of individuals' decisions based on all available knowledge. It assumes that individuals actions are based on the best available economic theory and information, and concludes that government policies cannot succeed by assuming widespread systematic error by individuals. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Rational expectations Chapter 2: Adaptive expectations Chapter 3: Macroeconomics Chapter 4: Inflation Chapter 5: New Keynesian economics Chapter 6: Phillips curve Chapter 7: Lucas critique Chapter 8: Macroeconomic model Chapter 9: Neutrality of money Chapter 10: John B. Taylor Chapter 11: Thomas J. Sargent Chapter 12: Edmund Phelps Chapter 13: Policy-ineffectiveness proposition Chapter 14: Lucas islands model Chapter 15: Neoclassical synthesis Chapter 16: New classical macroeconomics Chapter 17: NAIRU Chapter 18: History of macroeconomic thought Chapter 19: McCallum rule Chapter 20: Lucas aggregate supply function Chapter 21: Taylor contract (economics) (II) Answering the public top questions about rational expectations. (III) Real world examples for the usage of rational expectations in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Rational Expectations.

The concept of rational expectations has played a hugely important role in economics over the years. Dealing with the origins and development of modern approaches to expectations in micro and macroeconomics, this book makes use of primary sources and previously unpublished material from such figures as Hicks, Hawtrey and Hart. The accounts of the 'founding fathers' of the models themselves are also presented here for the first time. The authors trace the development of different approaches to expectations from the likes of Hayek, Morgenstern, and Coase right up to more modern theorists such as Friedman, Patinkin, Phelps and Lucas. The startling conclusion that there was no 'Rational Expectations Revolution' is articulated, supported and defended with impressive clarity and authority. A necessity for economists across the world, this book will deserve its place upon many an academic bookshelf.

A crucial challenge for economists is figuring out how people interpret the world and form expectations that will likely influence their economic activity. Inflation, asset prices, exchange rates, investment, and consumption are just some of the economic variables that are largely explained by expectations. Here George Evans and Seppo Honkapohja bring new explanatory power to a variety of expectation formation models by focusing on the learning factor. Whereas the rational expectations paradigm offers the prevailing method to determining expectations, it assumes very theoretical knowledge on the part of economic actors. Evans and Honkapohja contribute to a growing body of research positing that households and firms learn by making forecasts using observed data, updating their forecast rules over time in response to errors. This book is the first systematic development of the new statistical learning approach. Depending on the particular economic structure, the economy may converge to a standard rational-expectations or a "rational bubble" solution, or exhibit persistent learning dynamics. The learning approach also provides tools to assess the importance of new models with expectational indeterminacy, in which expectations are an independent cause of macroeconomic fluctuations. Moreover, learning dynamics provide a theory for the evolution of expectations and selection between alternative equilibria, with implications for business cycles, asset price volatility, and policy. This book provides an authoritative treatment of this emerging field, developing the analytical techniques in detail and using them to synthesize and extend existing research.

The major purpose of this work is to make staying up to date with rational expectations (RE) easier for economists in government, academia and industry, as well as for students.