Been There Done That: The Political Economy of DéJà Vu

Abstract

In the midst of the current financial crisis the economics profession has seen a monumental resurrection of Keynesian ideas. The debate, which Keynes started back in the 1930s, is being picked up again, not where it left off, but in exactly the same place it started. While Keynesian theories were carefully critiqued by new classical economists and in the most part discarded by the profession, Keynesian models and prescriptions became a staple of politics and macroeconomic textbooks. Obviously, neither side of the debate articulated their views adequately and on the same terms. If the economics profession is going to escape this perpetual déjà vu of cycling through the same debate every time an economic crisis emerges, the profession must discard entrenched ideologies and turn back to the sound but creative application of basic economics.

Keywords: Financial Crisis, Keynesian Economics, Inflation, Housing Bubble, Regime Uncertainty, John Maynard Keynes

JEL Classification: A11, B53, N40