When writing the preface the main work has been done. What remains is thanking all those people who directly or indirectly contributed to the out come. My thanks go to my family and friends for their encouragement towards the completion of this book. Among the academic profession, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Dr. Harald Scherf, my academic teacher, first. During the years at Hamburg University I benefitted especially from his profound knowledge of Keynesian theory. His way of examining an argument in an unbiased way helped me a lot to carry out the reseach I wanted to do. His confidence enabled me to finish the work. A part of the book was written while I was a visiting fellow at DELTA, Paris, where I am particularly indebted to Roger Guesnerie. I have benefitted from his encouragement, advice, and gentle criticism during discussions and seminars, especially on the topic of the time structure of economic dynamics. I would like to acknowledge the hospitality and stimulating atmosphere at DELTA. Different versions of the manuscript, or parts of it have been read by Prof. Dr. Manfred Holler, Dr. Jorg Bibow and Dr. Gabriele Kasten. Their comments and suggestions were quite helpul and are gratefully acknowledged. Additionally, I have to thank Prof. Dr. M. Funke and Prof. Dr. V. Timmer mann.

Among the most revolutionary and productive areas of economic research over the last two decades, modern business cycle theory is finally made accessible to students and professionals in this rigorous, unified, introductory volume. This theory starts with the view that growth and fluctuations are not distinct phenomena to be studied separately--and that business cycles result from shocks (such as the availability of new technologies), which regularly affect most economies. The unifying theme of this book is the use of the neoclassical growth framework to study the economic fluctuations associated with the business cycle. Presenting recent advances in dynamic economic theory and computational methods--with emphasis on the construction of equilibrium paths for simple artificial economies--leading experts orient readers in the quantitative study of aggregate fluctuations and apply its concepts to key issues in macroeconomics and business cycle theory. This volume covers such issues as the aggregate labor market, the role of the household sector, the role of money, the behavior of asset markets, non-Walrasian economies, monopolistically competitive economies, international business cycles, and the design of economic policies. The contributors are David Backus, V. V. Chari, Lawrence Christiano, Thomas F. Cooley, Jean-Pierre Danthine, John Donaldson, Jeremy Greenwood, Gary D. Hansen, Patrick Kehoe, Finn Kydland, Edward C. Prescott, Richard Rogerson, Julio Rotemberg, Geert Rouwenhorst, José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, Michael Woodford, and Randall Wright.

This study and its companion, "Joan Robinson and Economic Theory" looks at Joan Robinson, her impact upon modern economics, her challenges and critiques, and the advances made in the science and art of economics. It studies her ideas, themes and concerns from many different perspectives.