Once the true relationship between inflation and unemployment is understood, with luck and skill, a free lunch is possible.

The linear, mechanistic view of the world which pervades orthodox economics is simply not capable of capturing the richness and complexity of the rhythms and fluctuations of developed economies.

The behavior of the economy as a whole, at the aggregate, macro-level, is built up from the individual equations at the micro-level.

The model of competitive equilibrium which has been discussed so far is set in a timeless environment. People and companies all operate in a world in which there is no future and hence no uncertainty.

We need to abandon the economist's notion of the economy as a machine, with its attendant concept of equilibrium. A more helpful way of thinking about the economy is to imagine it as a living organism.

Despite the high salaries involved, employing economists is a cost-effective way for banks, and stockbrokers to secure exposure in the media.

The reader might reflect that an awful lot of supposing has to take place in order for the quantity theory of money to be true.