Unemployment: Keynesian Ideas and Fiscal Policy Essay

b) In a recession, the number of people experiencing economic hardship increases, so induced transfer payments such as unemployment benefits and welfare benefits increase. Induced taxes and induced transfer payments decrease the multiplier effect of a change in autonomous expenditure such as investments, and moderate recessions making real GDP more stable. Discretionary fiscal policy would be used in an attempt to restore full employment. The government might increase its expenditure on goods and services, cut taxes, or do some of both, increasing aggregate demand. An increase in government expenditure or a cut in taxes increases aggregate expenditure as well.

This also improves the distribution of income, a reduction in the unemployment rate with result in households yet having more spending power and yet encouraging more economic growth. An increase in employment will result in an improvement in the budget deficit as there will be a decrease in the demand for welfare benefits, thus improving the economy. The increase in the supply of goods and services (due to an increase in demand) is also expected to reduce demand pull inflation, as there is now less competition for few goods, lowering the prices to a healthy equilibrium. This can be shown in a demand and supply diagram.

John Maynard Keynes was an economist instrumental in the theories that aided in the construction of the New Deal during the great depression. He believed that it was appropriate for government to use tax and spend policies in order to stimulate the government. He felt that by using this fiscal policy it would keep the country out of a recession or depression. Beings it is an election year, and the economy affects everyone in the country, I wanted to look into the Keynes theories and discover if it is necessarily a good economic choice.

Keynes initiated a revolution in economic thinking by challenging the beliefs that neoclassical economists held. He argued that their ideas that free markets would naturally provide full employment in the short to medium term is

The complexities and the uncertainties of the government spending leave consumers in a world of dubiety and lead to declines on their spending and investment. The governments need to provide simple and elegant solutions in response to the recession. The consumers need to understand these solutions which would allow them to

In the first part of this paper, I will discuss the effect that the expansionary fiscal policy had on the Federal government and the impact on these changes the expansionary fiscal policy when it came to taxes and Government spending. Let’s start by talking about how taxes had to have necessary changes when it came to expansionary fiscal policy. You can think of taxes as being taxes that come from consumer spending, taxes on checks or even taxes on things you own. When thinking of what taxes affect the only

Monetary policy is the regulation of the money supply to influence variables such as inflation, employment, and economic growth. Fiscal policies, on the other hand, use the ability to tax and spend in order to influence those same variables (McEachern, 2014, p. 57). A blend of both of these policies is essential for improving the economy when a recession has occurred.

A budgetary stimulus is a necessity to help avoid recessions. Fiscal policy is when a government adjusts its’ spending levels and tax rates in order to impact the nation’s economic status. It is linked to the monetary policy which involves a bank and affects the nation’s money source. When there is an increase in unemployment and the economy is soon reaching a recession, the fiscal policy will help maintain the economy. The fiscal policy will decrease taxes and widely promote government spending. On the other hand, when unemployment is declining and prices are escalating, the policy will reduce government spending and raise the prices on taxes. The Great Recession was a horrific economic crisis that led businesses and buyers to drastically

Keynesian economics, derived from the ideology of John Maynard Keynes’, was a strategy used during post World War II that would prevent economic decline in the United States by incorporating government spending. Keynesian economics would work by using “...deficit spending to stimulate the economy when in the down cycle and increased taxes to retire the debt during the upswing.”(Lecture A, Week 5). Some government spending programs that reflected the idea of Keynesian economics in America included The Employment

The Federal Reserve’s main purpose is to ensure price stability. It also helps the economy maintain its maximum rate of employment. When the economy falls, the rate of unemployment increases. To avoid this, the Federal Reserve lowers its interest rates hence encouraging investment and employment. Consumers can spend more hence lowering the rate of unemployment. Spending programs such as Unemployment Insurance, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were important during the recession. These government programs offer highly effective reactions to curb the recession. The programs offer income to certain groups of people. Fiscal policy, which involves a reduction in taxes and increasing government spending, help stimulate the economy. Tax cuts which focus on lower income people prove helpful. This is because the lower income people are more likely to spend whatever they get compared to those with high income. This helps boost the economy. Congress also plays a part in the recovery of the economy, even though it takes time. The spending programs offer a more automatic response. Congress authorizes policies which help boost the economy. Congress may increase funding to the

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

Both the Keynesian and Neoliberal era came into existence as an aftermath of both an economic crisis and a war. Keynesianism came after the Second World War when the then neoclassical economy was in crisis. This crisis brought forth Keynesianism with the underlying disbelief in the self-regulating nature of capitalism. The Keynesian ideology believed in increased state intervention to produce economic stability. This policy rested on four policy prescription; full employment; a social safety net; increased labor rights; and investment policies were to be left to private enterprises. Keynesianism’s subsequent inability to deal with the unexpected inflation caused by two international oil crises and during the period of the

developed his theory based on the Adam Smith’s theory. Keynes did not entirely disagree with

The unemployment rate is also affected by monetary policy. “Unemployment that is above the natural rate involves great economic and social costs.” (McConnell & Brue, 2004). GDP GAP and OKun’s Law. McConnell and Brue define this as “when the economy fails to create enough jobs for all who are able and willing to work, potential production of goods and services

Increased spending on investment adds to aggregate demand and helps to restore normal levels of production and employment.Fiscal policy, on the other hand, can provide an additional tool to combat recessions and is particularly useful when the tools of monetary policy lose their effectiveness. When the government cuts taxes, it increases households’ disposable income, which encourages them to increase spending on consumption. When the government buys goods and services, it adds directly to aggregate demand. Moreover, these fiscal actions can have multiplier effects: Higher aggregate demand leads to higher incomes, which in turn induces additional consumer spending and further increases in aggregate demand.Traditional Keynesian analysis indicates that increases in government purchases are a more potent tool than decreases in taxes. When the government gives a dollar in tax cuts to a household, part of that dollar may be saved rather than spent. The part of the dollar that is saved does not contribute to the aggregate demand for goods and services. By contrast, when the government spends a dollar buying a good or service, that dollar immediately and fully adds to aggregate demand.