According to Keynesian economic theory, many recessions have little or nothing to do with underlying structural economic problems. Instead, the theory holds, recessions are the result of a crisis in ...

There is a small war going on between liberal and conservative economists about whether government stimulus packages increase or do not materially affect basic levels of economic activity. Liberals ...

The global financial crisis has led to a renewed interest in discretionary fiscal stimulus. Advocates of discretionary measures emphasize that government spending can stimulate additional private ...

This week “The Economist explains” is given over to economics. For each of six days until Saturday this blog will publish a short explainer on a seminal idea. WHEN Barack Obama sought to boost America ...

A key issue facing the new Obama administration is to what extent the economic stimulus should take the form of spending increases versus tax reduction. One way to think about the issue is the size of ...

It is accepted by most economists that initial increases in consumer spending or other outlays tend to set in motion a reinforcing process which supposedly strengthens the economic growth by a ...

Bloodletting is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness. It was based on an ancient system of medicine in which the proper balance of bodily fluids like blood were considered ...