1. Over the last few weeks of the semester, we read a handful of essays and papers responding to a variety of macroeconomic policy questions and problems. Below I provide you with 3 writing prompts based on a few of these selections. Please respond to one one question in 2-3 paragraphs thanks

a) In "Macroeconomic Lessons of the Past Decade," author J.W. Mason argues for that the macroeconomics profession (academic and policy-oriented) should have learned 3 central lessons since the Great Recession. Pick one of those lessons and write what Mason says that lesson is, in what ways macroeconomists may have previously gotten it wrong, and why it's important we get it right today.

b) In "Financilization: A Primer," Ramaa Vasudevan provides an overview of the semi-recent debate over whether or not the US economy has become "financialized." What does she point out is the mainstream story about finance in the economy, how does she argue this is wrong (what function is finance really serving), and what does she see as evidence to support the claim that the US economy is becoming incredibly financialized?

c) In "Political Aspects of Full Employment", Michael Kalecki argued in 1943 that the US economy faced severe political constraints thwarting the "doctrine of full employment." In section IV he states that this opposition is not absolute but in light of recent history would be willing to compromise, and he calls this compromise the "regime of the political business cycle." What does Kalecki cite as evidence of this political business cycle? What is your assessment of his prediction, do you think Kalecki was correct or incorrect? In other words, when you look at the US today, do you think his prediction came true or not?