Macroeconomics for the 21st century

Macroeconomic theory has not yet come to grips with major issues of the twenty- first century. These include environmental pressures, demographic changes, the size, structure, and power of multinational corporations, and growing economic inequality. Existing macroeconomic theory also does not deal adequately with normative issues, focuses excessively on market solutions, assumes that a single macroeconomic theory can apply to all situations, and ignores issues concerning the scale of economic activity and the speed of change. For the industrialized world, macroeconomic theory needs to address the issue of whether it is possible, in the absence of continual growth, for an economy to promote human wellbeing. For the developing world, the prioritization of economic goals such as universal literacy and public health service should be an important element of macro theory. The diverging demographics of developed and developing nations pose further important macroeconomic issues regarding health care costs, tax burdens, immigration, and savings and investment rates.