MACROECONOMICS FOR MACRO-POLICY

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 394, S. 46-56

Abstract

In influencing the content & operation of public policy at the over-all conceptual level, econ's has emerged as a super-discipline among the soc sci's. This influence is reflected in the Amer Presidency by the work of the Council of Econ Advisers, which, over the past 25 yrs, has proved to be the gov's econ ideologist. The functioning of econ advice has been determined by the President's elastic demand for econ advice, the range of issues involving presidential leadership resources, the Council's participation in decision-making processes, & the instit'al relationships maintained by the Council. Experience has shown that: (1) the application of econ expertise is shaped largely by pol'al & bur'tic factors & hence part of, rather than apart from, the pol'al process; (2) consensus regarding basic econ theory is balanced by disagreement among econ'ts regarding values & convictions; (3) econ'ts work from common income, employment, & production data but diff program data; & (4) the constraints of limited resources keep the Council functioning at the conceptual rather than the operating level. Application of professional macro-econ analysis to macro-policy yields a knowledge/power relationship that strengthens both presidential leadership & democratic gov. HA.