Essay on John Maynard Keynes Versus Friederich A. Hayek

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

In 1929, the stock market crashed. The values of production gone down, work force lost their jobs, millions of families lost their homes as well as millions of saving accounts were lost because banks closed for good. Those events resulted in the Great Depression. As a result, the world was plunged into economic turmoil. However, two prominent economists emerged with competing claims and sharply contrasting approaches on how a capitalist economy works and how to revive it when depressed. John Maynard Keynes an English economist believed that government has responsibility to intervene in an economical crisis whereas, Friedrich Hayek an Austrian-born economist and philosopher believed that the government intervention is worthless and

John Maynard Keynes school of thought is that with government intervention, the economy can be stabilized. Friedrich A. Hayek opposed the theories of John Maynard Keynes and argued that with government intervention in the free market will cause destructive repercussion and it could not prevent inflation, recession or unemployment.

The U.S. never fully recovered from the Great Depression until the government employed the use of Keynes Economics. John Maynard Keynes was a British economist whose ideas and theories have greatly influenced the practice of modern economics as well as the economic policies of governments worldwide. He believed that in times when the economy slowed down or encountered declines, people would not spend as much money and therefore the economy would steadily decline until a depression occurred. He proposed that if the government injected money into the economy, it would help stimulate consumers to purchase more and firms would produce more as a result, in a continuous cycle. This cycle is called the multiplier effect. Keynes ideas have

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.

However, on Black Thursday, stocks prices plunged and the downward spiral could not be stopped. During the 30s, values and prices spiraled downward and left people with no ability to earn, repay, spend, or consume. The banks also went down with it and people tried to rush to withdraw all of their savings. Millions of people lost everything and the government could not do anything about it, but instead made it worse. There was extremely high unemployment. Keynes was the real inventor of macroeconomics during these time period, as well as GDP, rate of inflation, and many other things. When Roosevelt came into office, he had to face the debt and his confidence rallied the whole nation, along with the New Deal. He created new agencies to regulate banks and the stock markets. Under the New Deal, industry came under many new rules and regulations. Keynes ideas began to gain ground during this time and World War II is what it took for his theories to become government policies. As the war began, high unemployment ended and the depression was gone, which was a demonstration of Keynesian ideas.

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.

We can see the implementation of Keynes’s and Hayek’s theory throughout history and even in today economy. Keynesian economics was created by the British economist John Maynard Keynes in the 1930’s. The theory is the idea of increasing the government spending and lower taxes in times of depression. In times of economic prosper the government supported to cut spending and raise taxis to save up for the next depression. An example of a country using Keynesian economics to stop an economic depression is during the Great Desperation. Franklin D. Roosevelt the president during that time used Keynesian to push the U.S. out of the Great Desperation. In the movie, they talk about the steps taken to help the U.S. “They were at war with the Great Depression, and they responded with frenetic activity, relief programs for the unemployed, for the hungry; programs to get people back to work.” (Commanding Heights, Daniel Yergin).

During the Great depression, British economist John Maynard Keynes developed what is known as the Keynesian economics. Keynesian economics is an economic theory of aggregate demand or the total spending in the economy. (Investopedia, LLC., 2003)

The ideas of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek have dominated the economic landscape since the end of World War II. Both of these influential economists had distinct ideas about economic freedom--ideas that were very clearly in opposition to each other. Following World War II, one major economic question dealt with the appropriate role for government in the economy. That has often been portrayed more recently as a battle between two economic titans. Hayek, in the 1970s, came to be seen as opposing everything Keynes and the Keynesian consensus stood for. More recently, many see the change towards more free-market ideas since the 1980s as the victory of Hayek's ideas over Keynes'—a process that has since reversed as a result of the Great Recession. This academic battle of ideas has even made its way into popular media.

Economist, Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes disagree on many of the economic policies and theories created by each individual. Each financial analyst has their own opinion when it comes to the Theory of the Consumption Function, monetary policy, and the free market. Friedman, a capitalist economist lays out of the benefits and importance of spending and earning money. While Keynes, a man who has more of a socialist view, finds many of Friedman’s theories ineffective.

John Keynes and Friedrich Hayek where two of the most influential economic minds of the 20th century. Each of these men’s ideas had a great impact on the economy of numerous countries and helped countries find economic success different times.

The two economist have very different theories in how the government should interact with the economy. Keynes believes that the government needs to spend money to fill the gap in aggregate demand from the private section. He believes the flow of money through spending generates a healthy economy. While on the other hand Hayek believes for capitalism to flourish the state must remove itself from all economic activity, but the military and transportation. Additionally, he believes that will less regulations there will be better management of money and investments in a free market. The two views both have valid points to create and sustain a productive economy. I believe there should be less regulations and wasteful spending by our government, however I also believe there is a place for government spending to prevent unjust pricing and regulations against the people.

The relationship between economists John M. Keynes and Friedrich A. Hayek is quite complex. Both had influential roles in economic studies, emerging after World War II and during the Great Depression era (BBC). It’s important to note that both of these economists had opposing views when it came to economic theories and policies. Briefly summed up, Keynes theories were in support for government involvement in the economy (EconedLink). In contrast, Hayek argued that the government should have a lesser role in economic decisions in order to achieve greater economic freedom (EconedLink). These two opposing arguments are what have primarily stirred the Keynes versus Hayek debate. Of course, both Keynes and Hayek’s theories

Keynes got involved into economics because of the time period in which he lived in. He was seeing the effects of the great depression in his home of Great Britain. The measures taken to stop the great depression all fell within the school of classical economics. “Two events spurred Keynes’ development of his new model. The first was the inability of the British economy to overcome the Great Depression.