Commanding Heights: Economics
"Commanding Heights" is a documentary that shows how the modern economy becomes into what it is today. Two men, John Maynard Keynes, and Fredric von Hayek, defined how modern economic become what they are today. Keynes theorized General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money also that the government should be involve in the marketplace. Hayek the theory of Business Cycles, and if the government planned the economy it will not work. Hayek and Keynes ideas have revolutionized how people see economics today.
Hayek's theory of the Business Cycle is a mix of three different theories, money, capital, and prices. When there is a rise in money stock it drops interest rates below the normal balance
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Macroeconomics deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as one big market. Keynes believes in the mixed economy and views standpoints on the Liberal side of the political spectrum. Keynes’ beliefs help shifts the economy creating what is known today. Keynes pushed that governments should control the Business Cycle. He wanted society to benefit and not let just a few individuals control the entire economic success. Keynes’ theories and philosophies were not widely used and were in fact shunned by the public due to an opposing viewpoint courtesy of Friedrich Hayek. Keynes viewpoints did not rise to the surface until after World War II. In the documentary “Commanding Heights,” the making of a world bank and an international monetary fund was put in action thanks to the Keynesian theory. Keynesian economics, known as demand side of economics, is based on the theory that the government places money into its citizens, and the demand will increase in the economy and the suppliers will need to find ways to meet the demand. Based on Keynes theory, this idea should lower inflation which was at an all-time high before WWII, according to “Commanding Heights.” With a “boom or bust” mentality, Keynes believes that the government should spend more in bad economic times and pay back their dues and debts later (The Investor). Keynes also believes that when the economy is doing …show more content…
Keynes took teachings from his mentors, Alfred Marshall, and Arthur Pigou, and it helped form his theory on money. Keynes believes in monetarism. “His major policy view was that the way to stabilize the economy is to stabilize the price level,” (Library Economic Liberty). To stabilize the price level, the central bank of the government "must lower the interest rates,” (Library Economic Libertyl). His theory states that demand is the sum of consumption, investments, and federal spending. The theory illuminated that full employment can only be maintained with the help of government spending. Keynes was a supporter of the free market, however, and believed that the once the employment rate was an acceptable rate, the market should be run freely. In Keynes’ General Theory, he notes that “prices, and especially wages, respond slowly to changes in supply and demand,” (Sarwat Jahan, Ahmed Saber Mahmud, and Chris Papergeorgiou). Keynes’ theories and viewpoints help shift the economy as we know today. Keynes pushed that governments should control the business cycle (Buisness, 2011). His theories became very popular with western economies in the 1950s and
Keynesianism and monetarism are both ways to stabilize the economy and promote growth when need. In keynesianism, government uses fiscal policy which is a list of policies that government spending and taxing can be used to improve the performance of an economy. The government produces stabilization by taxing and spending yearly plans. Taxing can occur when inflation is high and lowering taxes tends to occur during a high percentage of unemployment. By lowering taxes, it increases disposable income or the party of income that goes to financial responsibilities. When people have more money, they are able to spend more which in return goes into jump starting the economy. Monetary Policy is another policy used in Keynesianism which is a list of protocol designed to regulate the economy by setting the amount of money that is in circulation and controlled interest levels. The Federal Reserve system also known as the central banking system in the U.S. which holds control of this policy. Monetary policy has three tools used my the Federal Reserve to enforce this policy. Reserve Requirement is the first tool that determines the lowest amount of money a bank must possess and is not able to lend out. The second way to enforce monetary policy is by using the discount rate or the interest rank a bank will charge. The f...
Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the united states from 1933 to 1945 (and the distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt), was the first to convert to Keynes’s theories. He implemented massive public works programs to put people to work. Called the “New Deal”, an echo of Theodore Roosevelt’s square deal, it consisted of a series of programs from 1933 to 1938. As well as providing employment through massive works projects such as the Tennessee valley authority, which built dams to generate electricity. New deal programs provided emergency relief, reformed the banking system, and tried to invigorate agriculture and the economy. Many other programs were also put into place with were used to attemp...
There are two major views on the government’s role in the economy, the Keynesian view, and laissez faire. The Keynesian view is often held by liberals and democrats. This is the belief that it is the government’s responsibility to regulate and attempt to manipulate the economy. This is often characterized by taxing and subsidizing, and redistribution of wealth. The laissez faire philosophy is held by republicans and libertarians. In a laissez faire economy, the market determines where the money flows. Those who participate in the market determine the supply and demand with the way they spend their time and money.
I believe that it's’ important to use our constitution as a guiding tool to help appoint the correct people for the job.John Maynard Keynes was a British economist where he fundamentally changed the theory and practices of macroeconomics and economic policies of government. Although he was revolutionary most of his policies were controversial and used Keynesianism economic to get people to stay away from them . His approach to macroeconomic management was different since the previous traditional laissez-faire economists believed that an economy would automatically correct its imbalances and move toward a state of equilibrium, They expected the dynamics of supply and demand to help the economy adjust to recession and inflation without government action. Laissez-faire economics thus regarded layoffs, bankruptcies and downturns in the economy not as something to be avoided but as elements of a natural process that would eventually improve. However that was not the case for the great depression. Keynes also believed that a given level of demand in an economy would produce employment however he insisted that low employment during the depression resulted from inadequate
Keynes ideas were very radical at the time, and Keynes was called a socialist in disguise. Keynes was not a socialist, he just wanted to make sure that the people had enough money to invest and help the economy along. As far as stressing extremes, Keynesian economics pushed for a “happy medium” where output and prices are constant, and there is no surplus in supply, but also no deficit. Supply Side economics emphasized the supply of goods and services. Supply Side economics supports higher taxes and less government spending to help economy.
Regardless, in regards to applying Keynesian economic policies toward the Great Depression, Former Federal Reserve Governor Ben S. Bernanke said “You 're right, we did it. We 're very sorry. … we won 't do it again” (Federal Reserve Board, 2002). Other economic theory must be developed to address some of the shortcomings of the Keynesian economic
In this class we constantly talked about the free market place and how it truly made a government different. How it made a country different. How it made a people different. Today, we are going to explore the ideas of economics and how the economic greats, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keyes, and Milton Friedman changed the ways we would forever do business.
Keynes and Hayek represent different options. Should we steer markets or set them free? “Which way should we choose, More bottom up or more top down?” (Fight of the Century). These questions reflect the opposite ways Keynes and Hayek address the economy. Keynes wants to “steer” the economy from the “top down.” From his understanding of the economy, Keynes theorizes that the market can be directed by those with the power to do so to accomplish goals leading to a prosperous economy. This is the basis in his approach to dealing with recessions where the government or central bank manipulates the economy. The other side is a free market from the “bottom up” on which Hayek stakes his claim. Instead of steering the economy, Hayek proposes to leave it alone. Do not try to control it, but let the market determine the interest rate and price level, as it eventually will, through supply and demand. In this way, control is not exerted downward, but reality is expressed from basic economic forces. Fundamentally, Keynes’s model focuses more on the spending and consumption aspects of GDP, and Hayek’s approach focuses more on the investing aspect which flows from saving. These are the options from which to choose. Keynes vs. Hayek, Short run vs. long run, controlled vs. free, top down vs. bottom up, each possibility has its negatives and positives. This debate is not wrapped up
John Maynard Keynes, British economist, journalist, was born on June 5th 1883, in Cambridge, England. His father, Dr. John Neville Keynes, was an economist and a philosopher. Keynes attended Eton and then Cambridge University. At first he studied Mathematics but then turned his attention to Economics when he was offered the job at the British treasurer after the First World War when the British economy was at pressure. A man who gained a modicum amount of wealth during 1919 to 1938, married to Lydia Lopokova in 1926 and passed away in April 21st, 1946. Keynes believed that price level has to be stabled in order to have a stabled economy, and that is only possible if interest rates go down when prices rise. He also believed that the market forces alone will not deliver full employment but boosting government spending (main force of the economy in Keynes theory) will aim in his theory full employment or close to that. He believes by Governments intervening and spending will finally stop recession, unemployment and most importantly depression. For spending will increase the aggregate demand of the economy.
John Maynard Keynes classical approach to economics and the business cycle has dominated society, especially the United States. His idea was that government intervention was necessary in a properly functioning economy. One economic author, John Edward King, claimed of the theory that:
The Economy is the backbone to society. There are many factors that operate in, and govern our society’s economical structure. Factors such as scarcity and choice, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, microeconomics, macroeconomics, factors of production, production possibilities, law of increasing opportunity cost, economic systems, circular flow model, money, and economic costs and profits all contribute to what is known as the economy. These properties as well as a few others, work together to influence the economy. Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are two major components. Both of these are broken down into several different components that dictate societal norms and views.
Keynesian Economics was developed and founded by John Maynard Keynes. He believed and wrote in his book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” that it is essential for the Government to play a vital role in economic stability. Keynesian theorists believe government spending, tax hikes and tax breaks are vital to economic success. Keynesian assumptions include: Rigid or Inflexible Prices, Effective Demand, and Savings-Investment Determinants. Rigid or Inflexible Prices suggest that wage increases are easier to take while wage decreases hit resistance; likewise, a producer will increase prices yet when needed will be reluctant to decrease prices.
The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique for thinking, which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions. The ideas of economists and politicians, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." (John Maynard Keynes, the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money p 383)
Keynesian method and world-systems theory deserve special attention. It is Keynesianism that makes possible for the radical political economists to apply the bipolar model, centered on
Ferguson, S (1999) Keynesian Theory and its implication, College of Management and Economics, Canada University, 298-312