It's evolution, not revolution, in economics

WHILE they stare quietly at their models, macroeconomists are hearing the distant rumble of revolt. A year ago, the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz announced that capitalism was undergoing "yet another existential crisis", with "neoliberal ideology" to blame. Now Robert Skidelsky has proclaimed the arrival of a "silent revolution in macroeconomics". Martin Sandbu of the Financial Times prefers the plural, celebrating the "revolutions under way in macroeconomics".

A growing acceptance of aggressive fiscal policy is supposed to be the first principle of the new, post-revolutionary regime. Even the International Monetary Fund - once lampooned as "It's Mostly Fiscal" for wanting to impose austerity everywhere - is now calling for more fiscal stimulus to fight the crisis.

So, if a revolution is under way, what kind is it? Should conventional macroeconomists fear the intellectual guillotine?