What Contribution Did Adam Smith and John M. Keynes Make to the Study of Economics?
Adam Smith was the founder of economics, as we know it today. His thoughts have shaped modern ideas about the market economy and the role of the state in relation to it. Smith laid the intellectual framework that explained the free market (which still holds true today) and laissez-faire. Both are connected with the underlying theme of economic growth. Smith's analysis is not confined to showing the interrelation between the different elements of a continually maintained system. It also explains how the system can generate the continual accumulation of wealth. And since, according to Smith, this process is most successful when left to the play of natural forces, his analysis leads him to urge governments to let well alone.Laissez-faire government believes commerce and trade should be permitted to operate free of controls of any kind; there should be no tariffs or other barriers. The direct translation from the French language is "leave alone to do", which is self-explanatory. He is most often recognized for the expression "the invisible hand," which he used to demonstrate how self-interest guides the most efficient use of resources in a nation's economy, with public welfare coming as a by-product. It simply encourages bu
Keynes specifically rejected the need for public or government ownership of the means of production. He was concerned with the aggregate outcomes in the economy. He therefore did not direct his attention in The General Theory to the issues of what should be produced and how. eed of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of He argued that it was demand that created supply. If aggregate demand rose, firms would respond to the extra demand by producing more and employing more people. But a fall in demand would lead to less output and rising unemployment. His central point was that an unregulated market economy could not ensure sufficient demand. He therefore rejected the Adam Smith/classical economics belief, which held out the promise of material progress in a laissez-faire environment. Keynes was convinced that market-based economies do not produce full employment automatically. He argued that there would be unemployment and depression from time to time in the absence of corrective government policies. In his view, government action was essential to stabilize an unstable economy. It was necessary for the government to intervene, to 'fine-tune' the economy by running demand-management polices; these were to counter current trends in the trade cycle - to speed up activity when there is too little, to slow it down when there is an excess. He believed that Governments should abandon laissez-faire and instead they should intervene to control aggregate demand. This might well mean running a budget deficit : in other words, the government spending more than it receives in taxes. sinesses to provide what consumers want and at the same time it discourages government involvement. He believed that the only responsibilities of the government should be to define property rights, set up honest courts, impose minor taxes and subsides to compensate for well defined and narrowly specified "market failures". To underscore his laissez-faire convictions, Smith argued that state and personal efforts, to promote social good
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1471
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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