Must-Read: Duncan Black: Big Guvmint Keynesians

Must-Read: Duncan Black: Big Guvmint Keynesians: “That right economists have pretended for decades…

…that ‘Keynesianism’ is just a synonym for Big Guvmint Liberalism, despite knowing better, and that they managed to get away with it, is actually quite impressive.

It’s mildly true that salt water macroeconomists probably lean a bit more liberal, though they’re generally not the mirror image of the right wing cranks that are fresh water macroeconomists, but you don’t need to be liberal on any economic issue to think that basic Keynesian analysis and demand management (fiscal and monetary) over the business cycle is the best way to perceive things. Advocating expansionary policies during a downturn, and expansionary fiscal policies in particular when interest rates are at the zero bound, is hardly calling for nationalizing the means of production…