Robert Lucas was born in Yakima, Washington on September 15, 1937. He was the oldest child of his father, Robert Emerson Lucas and his mother, Jane Templeton Lucas. He had a sister named Jenepher who was born in 1939 and a brother named Peter who was born in 1940. His parents moved from Seattle to Yakima to open a small ice cream shop which they named The Lucas Ice Creamery. The restaurant eventually fell in about 1938. The family moved back to Seattle during World War 2. His father found a job as a steamfitter in the shipyards, and his mother worked as a fashion artist. Lucas’s younger brother, Daniel, was born in 1948. After World War 2, Lucas’s father found a job as a welder for a commercial refrigerator company named Lewis Refrigeration …show more content…
Lucas is a famous American economist for many reasons. He influenced the way of thinking for many other important economists such as Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott and transformed macroeconomic analysis. Lucas’s work, which gained popularity in the 1970’s, questioned the economic conclusions of John Maynard Keynes in macroeconomics and the efficacy of government roles in domestic affairs. Lucas indicated that in standard microeconomics, economists believe that people are rational. He extended this belief to macroeconomics. He believed that people would eventually be familiar with the model of the economy that policymakers use, this is where the term rational expectations arose from. He basically meant that the government would have to act unpredictably. He introduced the Lucas Critique of macroeconometric models in 1976. This showed that the diverse empirical equations which were estimated in such models were from periods where people had certain expectations about government policy. He believed that once these expectations changed, the empirical equations would change which would make the models useless in predicting the outcomes of different fiscal and monetary policies. Lucas believed that anticipated monetary expansions have inflation tax affects and that they brought about an inflation premium on nominal interest rates , but that they are not associated with the same kind of stimulus to employment and production. He also believed that unanticipated monetary …show more content…
This school of thought originated in the early 1970s by the work of economists from the Universities of Chicago and Minnesota, especially Robert Lucas. This school of thought emphasizes the importance of rigorous foundations which are based on microeconomics. New classical macroeconomics strives to provide neoclassical microeconomic foundations for macroeconomic analysis. The new classical school of economics began with Lucas’s and Leonard Rapping’s attempt to contribute microfoundations for the Keynesian labor market. They applied the rule that equilibrium in a market happens when quantity supplied is equal to quantity demanded. Keyne’s view was that recessions happen when aggregate demand falls which causes firms to produce below their capacity. Because firms would begin producing less, they would need fewer workers, and employment would fall. New Classical Economists reject this idea. They believe that involuntary unemployment would present firms with an opportunity to raise profits. This would be possible by paying workers a lower wage. If firms decided not to take this opportunity, they would not be optimizing. There are two fundamental tenets of the new classical macroeconomics. The first, that individuals are viewed as optimizers: they choose the best option available to them. The second, to a first approximation, prices adjust, incentives to
Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848. He was the son of George and Rebecca Latimer, escaped slaves from Virginia. When Lewis Latimer was a boy his father George was arrested and tried as a slave fugitive. The judge ordered his return to Virginia and slavery, but the local community to pay for George Latimer’s freedom raised money. George Latimer later went underground fearing his re-enslavement, a great hardship for Lewis' family.
There are two major views on the government’s role in the economy, the Keynesian view, and laissez faire. The Keynesian view is often held by liberals and democrats. This is the belief that it is the government’s responsibility to regulate and attempt to manipulate the economy. This is often characterized by taxing and subsidizing, and redistribution of wealth. The laissez faire philosophy is held by republicans and libertarians. In a laissez faire economy, the market determines where the money flows. Those who participate in the market determine the supply and demand with the way they spend their time and money.
Classical economics as postulated by the 19th century British economist David Ricardo states – in modern economic terms – that an economy will achieve its natural levels of employment (full employment) and reach its potential output on its own without any government intervention. While the economy may undergo periods of less than natural levels of employment or not yet reach its potential output, it will, in the long run, do so. If Mr. Ricardo was still alive, his favorite album would be The Long Run by The Eagles (1979). Using modern economic terms to further describe classical economics, an economy will tend to operate at a level given by the long-run aggregate supply curve. While many believe that the concepts of classical economics are for a by-gone era, that is not always the case.
Even though Jim Lewis was in World War 2, he led an average American life. He raised four kids in the Piedmont of North Carolina, with the values of love and respect. He influenced others through his hard work, dedication to his country, and his loyalty to his family. He voluntarily joined World War 2 and was a part of the Automobile Industry for 20+ years. Through this historical biography, you will learn about his life in the war, involvement of the crash in the S.S. Uruguay, and the car industry of the 1950’s-60’s.
Robert E. Lee was a general during the civil war and was born in Stratford, Virginia in 1807. His father was a revolutionary war general Henry Lee. He graduated from the military academy at west point in 1829. He ranked second in his class. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in engineers. He became war general for the confederate army in 1861.
George Walton Lucas Jr. was born in the sleepy suburbs of Modesto, California on May 14th, 1944. He was the only son out of four children. His parents made a decent living selling office supplies and maintaining a walnut far (Biography.com 1 of 2). Lucas was a somewhat difficult child during his adolescent years. He barely made passing grades in school and had a very stubborn personality. Early in his life, Lucas developed a passion for race cars and racing. His early dream was to become a race car driver. But shortly after graduating high school, Lucas experienced a near fatal car crash that left him in the hospital for three whole months (World Biography 1 of 6). This event changed his outlook on life and set him down the path that created the George Lucas we know today. After recovering from the accident Lucas wanted to attend film school but his parents refused to support him on his decision and he instead began studying social sciences at nearby Modesto Junior College (World Biography 1 of 6). There he started to gain a more grounded interest in photography and film. This is interesting because even though Lucas' parents discouraged his artistic side, he still pursued his interests anyway. After a near fatal car accident, one would think that the victim's parents would be more accepting of their child's
Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Stratford, Virginia to Colonel Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee and Ann Hill Carter. Lee’s ancestors included a president, chief justice of the United States, and signers of the Declaration of Independence. His father, Henry Lee, had served as governor of Virginia and was under command of General George Washington in the American Revolution.
Robert E. Lee was the youngest born to Anne Hill Carter and General Henry ‘light horse Harry’ Lee III. His extended family was well known and Lee saw himself as becoming a great military leader one day. At 18 years old, although his family had hardly the money to spare, Robert enrolled at West Point Military Academy where he placed 2nd in his class after 4 years. After graduating, Lee married
Although it sounds as if he had an easy life, in reality, Lucas had to struggle in order to get ahead. Not being interested or involved in school, Lucas turned his attention to cars. When he reached driving age, his father gave him a nice, small, “safe” car. However, passionate about cars and racing, Lucas revved up his engine and turned it into a hot rod. Each day following, he went cruising around town, drag racing often. However, this passion led him to a drastic change in his life. It ultimately led him to success.
Neo-classical economics assumes that workers and employers are perfectly rational and that labor markets function efficient...
The disparities between the two views of the economy lead to very different policies that have produced contradictory results. The Keynesian theory presents the rational of structuralism as the basis of economic decisions and provides support for government involvement to maintain high levels of employment. The argument runs that people make decisions based on their environments and when investment falls due to structural change, the economy suffers from a recession. The government must act against this movement and increase the level of employment by fiscal injections and training of the labour force. In fact, the government should itself increase hiring in crown corporations. In contrast the Neoliberal theory attributes the self-interest of individuals as the determinant of the level of employment.
Following his graduation from the University of Chicago, in 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts, Samuelson attended Harvard Graduate School, where he studied under other budding economists. Samuelson completed his Master of Arts in 1936 and his Doctor of Philosophy in 1941. Both before and after his graduation, Samuelson was a pre-doctoral fellow with the Social Science Research Council from 1935 to 1937, a member of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University from 1937 to 1940, and a Ford Foundation Research Fellow from 1958 to 1959. In addition, he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, as well as a staff member at the Radiation Laboratory (Biographic...
My research in Classical Economics and Keynesian Economics has given me the opportunity to form an opinion on this greatly debated topic in economics. After researching this topic to great lengths, I have determined the Keynesian Economics far exceeds greatness for America compared to that of Classical Economics. I will begin my paper by first addressing my understanding of both economic theories, I will then compare and contrast both theories, and end my paper with my opinions on why I believe Keynesian Economics is what is best for America. Classical Economics is a theory that suggests that by leaving the free market alone without human intervention equilibrium will be obtained. This theory was the first school of thought for economists, and one of the major theorists and founders of Classical Economics was Adam Smith.
The market price of a good is determined by both the supply and demand for it. In the world today supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental principles that exists for economics and the backbone of a market economy. Supply is represented by how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good that producers are willing to supply for a certain demand price. What determines this interconnection is how much of a good or service is supplied to the market or otherwise known as the supply relationship or supply schedule which is graphically represented by the supply curve. In demand the schedule is depicted graphically as the demand curve which represents the amount of goods that buyers are willing and able to purchase at various prices, assuming all other non-price factors remain the same. The demand curve is almost always represented as downwards-sloping, meaning that as price decreases, consumers will buy more of the good. Just as the supply curves reflect marginal cost curves, demand curves can be described as marginal utility curves. The main determinants of individual demand are the price of the good, level of income, personal tastes, the population, government policies, the price of substitute goods, and the price of complementary goods.
That is, it is sensitive to price change, and also to the quantity demanded. This means that if many people are consuming a good, the demand is greater than if less people are consuming the good. To further clarify, take the example of attending college. In an environment where most of an individual's peers are going to attend college, the individual will see college as the right thing to do, and also attend college to be like his peers. However, in an environment where most of an individual's peers are not going to attend college, the individual will have a decreased demand for college, and is unlikely to attend.