There have recently been renewed discussions on the evaluating of Keynes’ theories and Keynesian economics, which in many respects formed the basis of postwar economic policies. The approaches currently adopted by various countries in addressing economic policies have several points in common. The first point is the growing emphasis placed on improving the supply side of the economy.
The conventional approach to economic policy emphasizes the control of aggregate demand through monetary and fiscal policies, and this remains dominant when seeking short-term adjustments of the economy. At the same time, however, there is a growing perception that the driving force of long-term economic growth owes much to firms’ efforts to improve their productivity.