This book addresses one of the major theoretical issues that underlies,
implicitly or explicitly, some recurrent controversies in
macroeconomics - namely, whether a competitive monetary economy has
built-in mechanisms that are strong enough to remove excess demands and
supplies on all markets, through an automatic adjustment of the price
system. Jean-Michel Grandmont sheds light on this complex subject by
using the analytical techniques of general equilibrium theory alongside
the methods of monetary analysis. The book warns against the
indiscriminate use of the rational expectations hypothesis when
approaching this topic, and conversely stresses the common-sense
observation that short-run learning processes are among the most
important characteristics of economic agents. Grandmont argues that such
processes are deserving of careful theoretical study, and the result is
a clear and rigorous analysis of all the issues involved.