IS-LM: a history?

Abstract

For some economists, the IS-LM model is already past, corresponding to a remote phase of the history of economic thought. In this paper, we try to demonstrate that this is not necessarily true. At the same time, we take advantage of the model’s longevity to provide a brief account of some events in Macroeconomics. Also, we call attention for the increasing differences between “academic” and “practical” macroeconomists, a fact that may indicate the existence of problems pertaining to teaching and applications in the field. Despite all the model’s flaws, we believe that it hasn’t entered to the hall of historical icons of Economics yet and it may still be useful, at least in the sense of training younger generations of students with basic macroeconomic concepts.

JEL Classification: A2; A22; A23; B22; E1; E12.