Marxism and Keynesian economics
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Marxism and Keynesianism is a method of understanding and comparing the works of influential economists John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx. Both men's works has fostered respective schools of economic thought (Marxian economics and Keynesian economics) that have had significant influence in various academic circles as well as in influencing government policy of various states. Keynes' work found popularity in developed liberal economies following the Great Depression and World War II, most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the United States in which strong industrial production was backed by strong unions and government support. Marx's work, with varying degrees of faithfulness, led the way to a number of socialist states, notably the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The immense influence of both Marxian and Keynesian schools has led to numerous comparisons of the work of both economists along with synthesis of both schools.
With Keynes' work stemming from the neoclassical tradition and Marx's from classical economics and German idealism (notably the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), their understandings of the nature of capitalism varied, but both men also held significant similarities in their work. Both Marx and Keynes saw significant faults within the capitalist system, albeit to varying degrees; this is in opposition to many classical and neoclassical economists who tend to understand that faults within a capitalist system as brought upon by market imperfections and the influence of "exogenous shocks to the macroeconomic system".[1]
With Keynes writing during the height of liberal capitalism and its collapse during the Great Depression, along with his background in mathematics, his macroeconomic methodology focused significantly on using models to explore demand-side economics and the useful yet volatile nature of liberal capitalism. In contrast, Marx's early industrial European context and classical school influence saw him focus on production process, with all economies being established on a mode of production and these processes inherently causing stratification between the capitalist class and working class.[2] However, central to this comparison is the distinction between Keynes' belief in remedying the faults of capitalism while Marx saw capitalism as a stepping stone towards further societal development.[3]