Robert Lucas has popularized the notion that with respect to
A) severity, business cycles are all alike.
B) causation, business cycles are all alike.
C) quantitative behaviour of comovements among series, business cycles are all alike.
D) qualitative behaviour of comovements among series, business cycles are all alike.
E) deviations from trend real GDP, business cycles over time are all alike.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Robert Lucas is known for his work on the theory of rational expectations and the hypothesis of market efficiency. He argued that the qualitative behavior of comovements among series in business cycles is similar over time, suggesting that there are fundamental underlying factors that drive the economy. Lucas believed that the quantitative behavior of comovements (choice C) was less important because it was subject to measurement error, and he did not argue that business cycles were always equally severe (choice A), nor did he claim that they were all caused by the same factors (choice B). While he did not explicitly address deviations from trend real GDP (choice E), his argument about the similarity of qualitative behavior suggests that such deviations would be similar across business cycles as well.

Robert Lucas Has Popularized the Notion That with Respect to