Economic Themes (2012) 50 (4) 1, 433-450
Petar Veselinović
Abstract: The global economic crisis, which began in late 2007, after the longest period of economic rise, marked the downfall of the dominant neoliberal concept of economic trends management. An important precondition for substantiated critique of neoliberalism is to establish a clear correlation between the normative recommendations of neoliberal theory and economic changes in market economies during the past decade. Elementary insight into the economic trends indicates that there is a certain correspondence between neoliberal ideas and the trajectories of many, above all, capitalistic economies, but also a clear discrepancy between neoliberal theory and political and economic practices. The consequences of the global economic crisis suggest that the views about the role of market and state interventionism can not offer an adequate interpretation of the causes and consequences of the crisis. Macroeconomic theories that rested upon the idea of a perfect market functioning, a firm, monetary and fiscal policy as the backbone of successful economic policy, were struck by the appearance of such an intense and long lasting crisis. Therefore, the explanation of the causes of crisis, but also the recommendations for the economic policy, were predominantly based on the critique of neoliberal concept and its fundamental principles.
Keywords: global economic crisis; neoliberalism; global economy; economic policy; consequences
CHALLENGES TO ECONOMIC SCIENCE IN CONDITIONS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS
Petar Veselinović
Abstract: The global economic crisis, which began in late 2007, after the longest period of economic rise, marked the downfall of the dominant neoliberal concept of economic trends management. An important precondition for substantiated critique of neoliberalism is to establish a clear correlation between the normative recommendations of neoliberal theory and economic changes in market economies during the past decade. Elementary insight into the economic trends indicates that there is a certain correspondence between neoliberal ideas and the trajectories of many, above all, capitalistic economies, but also a clear discrepancy between neoliberal theory and political and economic practices. The consequences of the global economic crisis suggest that the views about the role of market and state interventionism can not offer an adequate interpretation of the causes and consequences of the crisis. Macroeconomic theories that rested upon the idea of a perfect market functioning, a firm, monetary and fiscal policy as the backbone of successful economic policy, were struck by the appearance of such an intense and long lasting crisis. Therefore, the explanation of the causes of crisis, but also the recommendations for the economic policy, were predominantly based on the critique of neoliberal concept and its fundamental principles.
Keywords: global economic crisis; neoliberalism; global economy; economic policy; consequences
