The Pros And Cons Of Classical Economics

Classical economics emphasises the fact free markets lead to an efficient outcome and are self-regulating. In macroeconomics, classical economics assumes the long run aggregate supply curve is inelastic; therefore any deviation from full employment will only be temporary. The Classical model stresses the importance of limiting government intervention and striving to keep markets free of potential barriers to their efficient operation.

Keynesians argue that the economy can be below full capacity for a considerable time due to imperfect markets. Keynesians place a greater role for expansionary fiscal policy (government intervention) to overcome recession. Keynesian economic theory relies on spending and aggregate demand to define the economic marketplace. Keynesian economists believe the aggregate demand is

The tax cut and increased defense spending increased the federal deficit. Increased spending for welfare programs and unemployment compensation, both of which were induced by the plunge in real GDP in the early 1980s, contributed to the deficit as well. As deficits continued to rise, they began to dominate discussions of fiscal policy. The events of the 1980s do not suggest that either monetarist or new classical ideas should be abandoned, but those events certainly raised doubts about relying solely on these approaches.

Reducing the deficit dominated much of fiscal policy discussion during the 1980s and 1990s. The events of the 1980s and early 1990s do not appear to have been consistent with the hypotheses of either the monetarist or new classical schools. New Keynesian economists have incorporated major elements of the ideas of the monetarist and new classical schools into their formulation of macroeconomic