John Maynard Keynes Русский: Джон Мейнард Кейнс Türkçe: John Maynard Keynes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Portrait of Milton Friedman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a good article by Bruce Bartlett, writing in the Economix column of the NYT. It’s well worth a read.

via Bruce Bartlett: Keynes and Keynesianism – NYTimes.com.

Bruce Bartlett is described as having held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.

Personally, I think that the article makes some powerful points about how Keynesian economics was misinterpreted in the post war years. However, it is significant that Bruce Bartlett recognizes the need for Keynesian economic stimulation at the current stage of the economic cycle. He concludes:

 I think Milton Friedman was right that in a sense we are all Keynesians and not Keynesians at the same time. What I think he meant is that no one advocates Keynesian stimulus at all times, but that there are times, like now, when it is desperately needed. At other times we may need to be monetarists, institutionalists or whatever. We should avoid dogmatic attachment to any particular school of economic thought and use proper analysis to figure out the nature of our economic problem at that particular moment and the proper policy to deal with it.

When will policy-makers in the US, the UK and Germany start stimulating their economies to give growth a real chance and to start to unwind the unnecessary unemployment caused by excessive austerity?

Personally, I tend to agree with Bruce Bartlett. What about you?

Related articles

• Keynes, Keynesians, the Long Run, and Fiscal Policy – NYTimes.com
• The Jobless Trap – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman
• How Austerity Kills – NYTimes.com