Keynesiläiset

Keynesiläiset are proponents of Keynesian economics, a macroeconomic school rooted in the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, most notably presented in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936). They emphasize that aggregate demand determines output and employment in the short run, and that economies can suffer from persistent underutilization of resources without deliberate policy action.

The core belief is the effectiveness of demand-management policies. Keynesiläiset advocate active fiscal policy: governments should use spending and taxation to smooth economic fluctuations, particularly by boosting demand during recessions and cooling it during booms. They also stress the importance of automatic stabilizers, such as unemployment benefits and progressive taxes, which respond to economic conditions without new legislation. Monetary policy plays a complementary role, but Keynesians typically argue that fiscal tools are crucial when monetary policy is constrained or ineffective.

In practice, Keynesiläiset support countercyclical deficits in downturns and worry about long-lasting unemployment rather than only inflation targets. They often favor public investment and other measures that can have lasting effects on potential output, while maintaining that debt sustainability must be considered and not pursued at the expense of demand and employment.

Historically, Keynesian ideas influenced many economies after World War II, shaping welfare-state policies and stabilization frameworks. The approach has evolved into branches such as New Keynesian economics, which seeks microfoundations for price and wage rigidities, maintaining the focus on demand-side influences in modern macroeconomic analysis.