Political Dimensions of the American Macroeconomy - Paperback

by Gerald T. Fox (Author)

Political macroeconomy refers to the interconnection between macroeconomic politics and macroeconomic performance. The expectational Phillips curve may be used to examine the economic aspects of this interrelation. Macroeconomic politics relates to voter behavior, presidential reelection ambition, partisan economic priorities, and special interests. These factors impact the fiscal and monetary policy actions of the president, Congress, and central bank. According to the electoral effect, presidents attempt to boost the economy before an election to increase reelection votes.

According to the partisan effect, conservative presidencies are relatively inflation averse, while liberal administrations are relatively unemployment averse. The evidence, however, suggests that the electoral and partisan effects occurred idiosyncratically in the U.S. economy during 1961-2016. The economy also affects presidential approval, Congressional elections, consumer sentiment, voter participation, and macropartisanship. An international dimension of the political macroeconomy is the issue of free trade versus protectionism and the perspectives of economic liberalism, neomercantilism, and structuralism.

Author Biography

Gerald T. Fox received his PhD in economics from the University of Utah. He completed his undergraduate degree in economics at Brigham Young University. Professor Fox teaches economics at High Point University. His research interests include political macroeconomics, regional economic analysis, and globalism. He has published research in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Applied Research in Economic Development, and the Journal of Macroeconomics. He has also coauthored a major economic impact study on the furniture industry in North Carolina. He has presented research at numerous academic conferences. Dr. Fox speaks Japanese and travels to Japan in the summers. He has worked in the Philippines, Japan, Poland, France, and England. He was a visiting professor at the University of Warsaw in Poland. He has also served as Faculty-in- Residence at the University of Winchester in Winchester, UK.