John T. Harvey
Professor | Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX, UNITED STATES
Dr. Harvey's research focuses on exchange rates, business cycles, and contemporary economic schools of thought.
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Biography
John T. Harvey earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tennessee and has been at Texas Christian University ever since. He specializes in international economics (particularly exchange rates), macroeconomics, business cycles, and contemporary schools of thought. Dr. Harvey has over forty refereed publications, plus two edited volumes, two books, and a number of teaching and research awards. His first volume was Currencies, Capital Flows and Crises (2009, Routledge Publishing), which presented a Post-Keynesian explanation of exchange rate determination based on the premise that, in contrast to the orthodox view that trade flows drive exchange rate movements, it is financial capital flows which play the primary role. It combines analyses rooted in the scholarly traditions of John Maynard Keynes and Thorstein Veblen with that of modern psychology to produce a set of new theories to explain international monetary economics including not only exchange rates, but also world financial crises. His recent business cycle work (which he hopes to turn into a book) builds on this, creating a model that explains the transition from expansion to recession as a function of entrepreneurs’ overly-optimistic expectations.
Dr. Harvey’s second volume was Contending Perspectives in Economics (second edition 2020, Edward Elgar Publishing). It is an introduction to eight different contemporary schools of thought, each chapter having been vetted by at least one member of that school It is one of very few such studies and the only one to go to such lengths in an attempt to remain unbiased.
Dr. Harvey has twice served as chair of the TCU Department of Economics, as well as Executive Director of the International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics, lead editor of the World Economic Review, member of the board of directors of the Association for Evolutionary Economics, and member of the editorial boards of the American Economist, American Review of Political Economy, the Critique of Political Economy, the Encyclopedia of Political Economy, the Journal of Economics Issues, and the Social Science Journal. Dr. Harvey is a frequent speaker for local civic organizations and has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts based around the world. He also has a blog at Forbes.com entitled Pragmatic Economics and a YouTube station called “The Cowboy Economist.”
Areas of Expertise (4)
Contemporary Economic Schools of Thought
Macroeconomics
Exchange Rates
Business Cycles
Accomplishments (2)
Deans’ Award for Research and Creative Activity
2015
Chancellor’s Award for Creative Teacher
2012
Education (3)
University of Tennessee: Ph.D., Economics 1987
University of Tennessee: M.A., Economics 1986
University of Tennessee: B.A., Economics and Political Science 1983
Affiliations (3)
- Association for Evolutionary Economics
- The American Economist : Associate Editor
- American Review of Political Economy : Board of Editors
Links (4)
Media Appearances (14)
Ep125[1/3,1/6] John Harvey: MMT, the UK, and pound sterling
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-03
Welcome to episode 125 of Activist #MMT. Today's the first in a six-part series with Texas Christian University (TCU) economics professor and Cowboy Economist, John Harvey. The first three parts are hosted by me, the final three by MMT researcher, Texas lawyer, and my previous guest, Johnathan Wilson. Jonathan and John talk about how MMT can apply to nations outside the US, using Russia as an example, and also some of the core theoretical and ideological differences between MMTers and mainstream economists, focusing on a recent critique of MMT by Drumetz and Pfeister. (You can hear my own interview with Jonathan in episodes 106 and 107.)
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #22: Explaining Inflation (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
This is the full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #22: Explaining Inflation
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #21: Cousin John speaks to the Northeast Tarrant County Democrats about the Job Guarantee! (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #02: How the private sector finances its deficits.
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #20: The Ballad of MMT (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #20: The Ballad of MMT.
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #19a: A review of Dr. Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #19a: A review of Dr. Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth.
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #18: Paying COVID-19 to go away. (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #18: Paying COVID-19 to go away.
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #17: M..m..m..my Corona! (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #17: M..m..m..my Corona!
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #15: Universal Healthcare (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #15: Universal Healthcare
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #13: What actually causes inflation part two (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #13: What actually causes inflation part two
Full audio: Cowboy Economist #12: What actually causes inflation part one (John Harvey)
Activist #MMT - podcast online
2022-07-02
The full audio from the Cowboy Economist video #12: What actually causes inflation part one
The Fed’s Interest Rate Hike: Salt In The Wound?
Forbes online
2022-05-04
Nobel Laureate Paul Romer writes that, “For more than three decades, macroeconomics has gone backwards.” He accuses the economics discipline of no longer being concerned with whether or not its models have any practical relevance and says we have entered an era of “post-real” macroeconomics. Reality no longer matters. Not only do I agree with him, but I don’t think he goes far enough.
The Senate Resolution To Condemn MMT: Here Are Some Better Candidates For Condemnation
Forbes online
2019-05-03
I can hardly believe that I am typing this. A resolution has been forwarded in the Senate to condemn an economic theory: “Recognizing the duty of the Senate to condemn Modern Monetary Theory and recognizing that the implementation of Modern Monetary Theory would lead to higher deficits and higher inflation.” I guess on the one hand that we should be happy that anyone is even aware of Post Keynesian economic theory. Scholars in this area have toiled largely in vain for going on a century (marking Keynes’ General Theory in 1936 as the starting point). So maybe there’s no such thing as bad publicity???
U.S. Jobs Report Eases Recession Worries . . . For Now
Forbes online
2019-04-05
My own personal favorite indicator is Real Gross Private Domestic Investment. Such spending tends to drive the rest of the macroeconomy and though it's possible to have a dip in Real Gross Private Domestic Investment without a recession resulting, only once since World War Two has a recession not been preceded by such a decline (the July 1981 to November 1982 self-inflicted Volcker Recession). Currently, this series shows signs of slowing, but it is not declining. When that happens, I'll be worried.
Q&A: Three professors received the Deans’ Research and Creativity Award
TCU 360 online
2016-02-13
What was one of the most interesting things that you discovered through your research? The importance of psychological factors in both the currency market and in creating macroeconomic expansions and recessions. I knew these were issues but didn’t realize their importance until I built a computer model of the business cycle some years ago. It really didn’t work until I let people’s swings between optimism and pessimism play a larger role (especially in the particular manner described by John Maynard Keynes). It caused me to shift my thinking, which shows how valuable modeling a phenomenon can be.
Event Appearances (5)
Invited Speaker
Levy Institute at Bard College Summer Workshop on Modern Monetary Theory
2022-06-13
Invited Opening Speaker
Systemic Cyber Defense: Integrating Economics, Information, Innovation, and Operationalization US Naval War College
2018-05-01
Invited Speaker for Opening Panel
Cyber, Security, and Economics: Challenges to Current Thinking, Presumptions, and Future Cyber Defense Transformations US Naval War College
2016-12-06
Plenary Speaker
System Dynamics Society Conference Boston, MA
2015-07-20
Keynote Speaker
Economics, Communication, and Society Conference Dallas, TX
2017-01-01
Articles (6)
Testing Keynes' Aggregate Investment Function
Journal of Post Keynesian EconomicsJohn T. Harvey
2021 In Keynes' model, no variety of private sector spending plays a more critical role than investment. This is so because reaching full employment requires that it be large enough to offset the volume of saving that would be forthcoming at that level of economic activity, which occurs only rarely and by coincidence. Despite its key role, very few Post Keynesians have undertaken empirical studies of Keynes' approach. While I suspect that there are a number of reasons for this, perhaps the greatest stumbling block is one related to data: how do we measure not just investors' expectations, but the difference between what was expected and what actually transpired? I believe I have developed a defensible solution to this problem, one that not only allows for a more direct test of Keynes' theory but also offers tremendous support for it.
Why is National Cyber Insurance Not a Thing?
Naval War CollegeJohn T. Harvey
2021 Chapter for Naval War College volume on "lessons not learned."
The Financial Sector’s Vulnerabilities, Villains, and Options for Defense
Military Cyber AffairsJohn T. Harvey
2018
Intermediate macroeconomics: The importance of being post Keynesian
Journal of Post Keynesian EconomicsJohn T. Harvey
2018 Post Keynesians should not be afraid to teach what they believe represents the best explanation of macroeconomic fluctuations. Our colleagues in the mainstream certainly are not and, realistically speaking, it is hard to imagine that any student would be handicapped by not having had a full dose of IS-LM, the accelerationist hypothesis, Phillips Curves, and so on. Furthermore, there may not be a more opportune time to introduce post Keynesianism to undergraduate students with Neoclassicals still recovering from their inability to explain the financial crisis. This article argues for a post Keynesian-focused intermediate macroeconomics and offers a sample plan. It reviews the state of post-financial crisis mainstream macro teaching and references pedagogical literature in showing how a post Keynesian transformation and reorganization can be made most effective.
Teaching the Greek crisis (and more) from the perspectives of competing models
Review of Keynesian EconomicsJohn T. Harvey
2017 One would have thought that the financial crisis would have served as a decisive empirical test, separating the wheat from the chaff. Instead, very few schools of thought have shifted their positions. Part of the reason is no doubt because, as Einstein once said, theory determines what we see (Salam 1990, p. 99). To illustrate this point while at the same time educating students about the Greek financial crisis, this paper outlines a classroom lesson built around two competing graphical analyses of exchange rates and the balance of payments: the Monetary model and the post-Keynesian open-economy/Z-D model. Each one offers an internally consistent explanation of developments in the peripheral EU countries, but suggests a different cause and solution. The paper will show how variations in method lead members of these schools of thought to believe they are witnessing phenomena that validate their mutually inconsistent analyses.
An Introduction to Post Keynesian Economics: Involuntary Unemployment With Perfectly Flexible Wages and Prices
The American EconomistJohn T. Harvey
2016 Post Keynesian economics is based on the economics of John Maynard Keynes. Unlike Keynesianism, it does not rely on rigidities or imperfections to explain less-than-full employment, a condition that they argue is the rule rather than the exception. One key implication of this is that Post Keynesians do not view economics as being the science of scarcity. In the real world, our most difficult challenge is related to the pervasive and chronic abundance of one particular resource: labor. The consequences of this abundance are significant, widespread, and avoidable. This article explains how they come to such a conclusion.
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