Galbraith describes the micro / macro distinction as ‘one of the  
intellectually suffocating errors of modern economics.’

"The point of the analogy between macro and micro economic aspects is  
that we can no longer continue with the dangerous notion that these  
represent two different realities. Galbraith, attributing this stark  
distinction to Keynes, describes it as ‘one of the intellectually  
suffocating errors of modern economics.’ (1987:295) One can concur  
with Galbraith’s view, since, whatever its author’s intentions, a main  
effect of a construct that divides the economy in two in this way is  
to give rise to the idea that whatever individuals do and think is not  
really important. Indeed, macroeconomics deliberately aggregates and  
simplifies this element, encouraging the belief that the big picture  
has to be left to governments and experts, and behind them the  
wondrous workings of the invisible hand. We should, rather, see the  
macro and micro as two ends of a spectrum. Far from referring to  
separate worlds, they are two ways of addressing the one reality. "
Galbraith, J.K. (1987) A History of Economics, London: Hamish Hamilton.

FROM: Money, Bookkeeping and the Inherent Ethics of Accounting. 11th  
World Congress of Social Economics. Albertville, France, June 2004.  
Christopher Houghton Budd

Arthur Edwards

On 16 Jul 2010, at 21:16, Lawrence Boland wrote:

> I am working on a book about model building and wanted to note when  
> separate micro and macro classes were first taught. I have asked  
> many senior economists starting with Ken Arrow and Dick Lipsey and  
> accept for Ken remembering that he taught one in 1949, not much else  
> has been uncovered.
>
> I looked at my undergraduate and graduate catalogs but these only  
> show recognition in the early 1960 (interestingly, not the earliest  
> ones but only in the year I graduated).
>
> The question now is when did separate and explicitly micro and macro  
> courses first appear in an economics curriculum (not counting  
> business cycles type course)? Obviously in the 1940s in North  
> America (but Dick thinks only in the 1950s in Great Britain) -- but  
> where and what year? Any ideas? Does anyone have a catalog or  
> calendar that lists separate courses in the 1940s?
>
> Regards,
>
> LB
>
>
> -- 
> Lawrence A. Boland, FRSC
> Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby BC Canada V5A-1S6
> ph: 778-782-4487, web: http://www.sfu.ca/~boland