The Comparison Of Adam Smith And Keynes's Views About The Government's Economic Duty

During the period of Industrial Revolution in Europe, the Economic Liberalism advocated by Adam Smith provided a theoretical foundation for the rising bourgeois to oppose the feudal autarchical system. To Adam Smith, the government played a role of "night watchman", and he was against that the government poking nose into the market, he proposed that the problems aroused in the market should be solved by the market itself. However, in the beginning of 1930s with the market out of order, the government's intervening policy presented by Keynes led the bourgeois countries instead of the Economic Liberalism. He insisted that the government should strengthen its ability of micro-regulation in national economy, and solve the problems of unemployment from economic crisis through the monetary and financial policy. When analysing why Adam Smith and Keynes had entirely different ideas about the government's economic duty, we'll see through the fundamental reason that they had quite different ideas due to their different historical obligation from different background and different times. Besides, they were also influenced by the fact whether they sticked to the private or public economic policy, and different ideas towards the properties and abilities of the government and the market. However, all in all, both their aims are the same, that is, to maintain the fundamental interests of capitalism. Adam Smith and Keynes's theories have a widespread and profound influences on later ages, and till now, the government's intervening and the economic liberalism are still the hot dispute among the social economists in capitalistic countries, while at the same time, comparing and analysing their different policies will afford us lessons and successful experiences to establish and improve our market economy.