— Ch. 1 · The Oxford Conference Of 1936 —
IS–LM model.
~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
John Hicks stood before the Econometric Society in Oxford during September 1936 to present a new mathematical framework. He had just invented what would become known as the IS-LM model, though he originally called it the LL curve instead of LM. Roy Harrod and James Meade also presented papers at that same conference attempting to summarize John Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Hicks used his draft paper from Harrod as inspiration to create this two-dimensional diagram showing how interest rates relate to output. The intersection of these curves illustrated a general equilibrium where both goods markets and money markets reached balance simultaneously. This moment marked the birth of a tool that would dominate macroeconomic analysis for decades.
Hicks And Hansen Build A Framework
Alvin Hansen extended John Hicks original contribution throughout the 1930s and early 1940s into a full mathematical representation of Keynesian theory. Between the 1940s and mid-1970s their combined work became the leading framework for macroeconomic analysis. The model showed how lower interest rates encouraged higher investment and spending which raised real GDP through a multiplier effect. Every level of the real interest rate generated a certain level of investment and spending along the downward-sloping IS curve. The upward-sloping LM curve represented combinations of interest rates and income levels where money demand equaled money supply. Central banks determined money supply as perfectly inelastic with respect to nominal interest rates during this period.