Flaws Of Keynesian Theory

Milton Friedman and John Keynes are two world renowned economist, with many similar and contrasting views that have helped set the foundation of our economy. Friedman 's ideology on subjects such as the Monetary Policy, Gold Standard, and the Theory of the consumption function are what made him a extremely impactful economist. Keynes has made his impact on the modern day world as well in many aspects. Both of these economists have helped pave the way to a better, more efficient economy.

John Maynard Keynes a British economist was the founder of Keynesian economic theory. Keynesian economics is a form of demand side economics that inspires government action to increase or decrease demand and output. Classical economists had looked at the equilibrium of supply and demand for individuals, but Keynesians focuses on the economy as a whole. Keynesian

John Maynard Keynes fostered a school of thought that came to be known after him,

This policy is results in faster results to speed up the economy for the short term. Fiscal Policy is later used to develop a plan of yearly actions and is a long term way to stabilize the economy. The next idea to stabilize the economy is a theory called monetarism which is the belief that if government did not interfere with the market economy that employment would be high and inflation low. Followers believe the government is the reason of downturns such as the recent recession.

D. Roosevelt in 1933 in direct response to the unemployment, poverty and economic deflation caused by the Great Depression (Romer, 2003:2), was a system of policy adjustments for which “Keynesian economics form the basis” (Henretta, et al., 2011:368). Before Roosevelt’s election, President H. Hoover had adopted policies based largely on classical economics – an essentially laissez-faire approach which favoured minimal government intervention (Dautrich & Yalof, 2013:426). The “Keynesian View” (Parkin, 2009:634), adopted by Roosevelt, “attempts to alleviate the pain of economic downturns, hold down the unemployment rate, and boost the disposable income of the worst off” (Boix, 1997:816) with government-implemented policy at its

John Maynard Keynes was born in 5th of June 1883 and died at the age of 62 on the 21st of April 1946. His work in economics and his ideas fundamentally changed the practice and theory of modern macroeconomics as well as the economic policies of governments. Keynes is very well known for his exceptional work on the implications and causes of the business cycles and is also regarded as the founder of modern macroeconomics. The school of thought also known as ‘Keynesian economics’ as well as the various offshoots have his ideas as foundation.

Since the beginning of time people have been affected by their income and ability to accumulate wealth. People live their lives spending or saving money based on their own expectations of what the economy might do. For hundreds of years we have studied how the economic decisions of individuals and governments affect the welfare of society as a whole. John Maynard Keynes introduced a new economic theory that emphasized deficit spending to help struggling economies recover. Keynesian economics revolutionized the traditional thinking in the science of economics. His ideas and theories were deemed radical for his time but were later enacted by some of the largest governments in the world including the United States during the Great Depression. President Franklin Roosevelt enacted the New Deal in an attempt to stimulate the economy through government spending. In this paper I will be giving background to the history economics, the Great Depression, the New Deal, the development of Keynesian Economics. This paper will focus on analyzing the following question: In an attempt to address high unemployment and economic contraction, was Roosevelt’s The New Deal efficacious in stimulating the economy and ending the Great Depression?

The economic meaning of a recession is that the gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined for two or more consecutive quarters. Unemployment rises, housing falls, stocks fall and the economy is in trouble. Whenever the government sees that the economy is entering a recession it is important for it to act. The U.S acted in two ways during the Great recession of 2008 through fiscal and monetary policies. Renaud Fillieule identifies that “ Monetary and credit expansions have been the main tools used by the U.S. government and central bank to try and recover economically from the Great Recession of 2008” (Fillieule r, Pg. 99 2016). These Keynesian policies are debatable among economist, none the less they were implemented and put the U.S on the road to recovery.

John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist of the 1900’s and many of his ideas were adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression of the 1930’s. With the passing of the economic crisis in 2008, countless articles have been published supporting Keynes and his economic thought. He investigated the origins of the Great Depression and remodeled the field of economics with a basic conclusion: economies recover from downturns by spending money. Keynes theorized that during financial downfalls, the public becomes frightened and decreases spending, this leads to more layoffs, which in turn leads to an even greater decline in consumption, creating a vicious cycle. Many of Keynes’ theories in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936) are accurate, but have often been overlooked in the legislative sector, due to political agenda triumphing over logic. “When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. The measure of success attained by Wall Street . . . cannot be claimed as one of the outstanding triumphs of laissez-faire capitalism” (Keynes Ch. 12, Pt. VI). I will be addressing Keynes’ concept of business cycles in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money—mainly focusing on the 2008 financial crisis—and analyze whether or not these arguments should be taken as more or less accurate than his other conclusions. I strongly believe that many of his

These major flaws in the past economic theories lead to the new ideas. Economist John Keynes explained that classical economics stated that wages and prices are very flexible; when in actuality they weren’t as flexible as previously assumed. Keynes argued that the market is self-adjusting, however it has a long time before it actually made its way back on the rise. “In the long run we are all dead” was quoted from Keynes. Keynes believed that it was the aggregate demand for goods in the economy that determined the level of employment and the level of output.

How can monetary policy and fiscal policy greatly influence the US economy? Keynesian economics says, “A depressed economy is the result of inadequate spending .” According to Keynesian the government intervention can help a depressed economy through monetary policy and fiscal .The idea established by Keynes was that managing the economy is a government responsibility .

     With America in recovery from the attacks on our freedom and our economy, many wonder if we will return to phase one (expansion) and how long it will take to reach phase two (recession) again. The Keynesian Theorists of America believe that the government should actively pursue Monetary policies (enacted by the Federal Reserve Bank) and Fiscal policies (enacted by Congress) to reach adjustments to price, employment, and growth levels. In our full market economy, we must use these economic policies to control aggregate demand. When these policies are used to stimulate the economy during a recession, it is said that the government is pursuing expansionary economic policies.

Although much of his ideas were often misunderstood throughout his life, Keynes offered bright new insights into the nature and origin of financial theories. In his most well known writings, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, which was published in 1936, Keynes worked to break down the prior ideas of traditional economics and point out its inadequacies, which became obvious during the downturn of the economy. He felt a new approach was needed, and through his work in The General Theory, he sought to bring this transformed stance to light and make sense of the economic crisis that surrounded him. Keynes entire social

growth and low growth of aggregate demand. Keynes urged that the economy can be below full

Keynesian economic theory arose first in opposition to classical economic theory during the 1930s. Keynes developed his philosophy as a way of remedying the aftereffects of the Great Crash, which had spiraled into a great, world-wide depression. According to classical economic theory, the ups and downs of the business cycle are to be expected. Eventually, prices become so low that people start buying goods and services again. Businesses begin hiring again and the price of labor becomes so cheap businesses are willing to give employment to formerly unemployed workers. However, classical economic theory does not take into consideration that during very severe downturns people begin 'hoarding money in their mattresses' they refuse to spend money no matter how low prices drop, because they have a legitimate fear of loosing their jobs. Keynes "concluded that classical economics rested on a fundamental error. It assumed, mistakenly, that the balance between supply and demand would ensure full employment. On the contrary, in Keynes's view, the economy was chronically unstable and subject to fluctuations, and supply and demand could well balance out at an equilibrium that did not deliver full employment. The reasons were inadequate investment and over-saving, both rooted in the psychology of uncertain" (Yergin & Stainslaw 1998).