Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Major Schools of Economics
Lord Keynes at Social Democracy for the 21st Century has a very good overview of the major schools of economic thought. The divisions among the various free market schools are really quite interesting. I found the differences between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan intriguing as well. Lord Keynes contends that Thatcher was indeed the more doctrinaire neoliberal of the two. I agree with this assessment. As Lord Keynes notes, Reagan practiced a muscular form of military Keynesianism which eventually led to huge budget deficits. While I doubt they would admit it, most Republicans still practice this kind of military Keynesianism. I think there is definitely a connection between the Republican orientation of many Western and Southern states and the large amounts of military spending that is funneled to the West and South.
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Bob Jessop offers the very comprehensive account of Thatcherism in his book,
ReplyDeleteThatcherism: a Tale of Two Nations, Cambridge: Polity (co-authors -- Kevin Bonnett, Simon Bromley, & Tom Ling) 1988
One of Jessop's key points is that Thatcher was very focused the British class structure, with more small business ownership and employment in the private sector and less state employment. This change to class structure was necessary to make further Neo Liberalism reform politically acceptable.
Mr. Smith,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment and the reference. I will have to check out Jessop's book.