Neoclassical Economists

Examples of Neoclassical Economists in the following topics:

• Stability Through Fiscal Policy

  • Neoclassical economists generally emphasize crowding out, while Keynesians argue that fiscal policy can still be effective especially in a liquidity trap where, they argue, crowding out is minimal, while Austrians argue against almost any government distortion in the market.
  • Some classical and neoclassical economists argue that crowding out completely negates any fiscal stimulus; this is known as the Treasury View, which Keynesian economics rejects.
  • The Treasury View refers to the theoretical positions of classical economists in the British Treasury, who opposed Keynes' call in the 1930s for fiscal stimulus.
  • The same general argument has been repeated by some neoclassical economists up to the present.

• Classical Theory

  • It began in 1776 and ended around 1870 with the beginning of neoclassical economics.
  • Notable classical economists include Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and John Stuart Mill .
  • Real and Nominal Variables: classical economists stated that real and nominal variables can be analyzed separately.

• Alternative Views

  • Neoclassical and neo-Keynesian ideas can be coupled and referred to as the neoclassical synthesis, combining alternative views in economics.
  • These different perspectives have motivated economists to generate the neoclassical and neo-Keynesian perspectives.
  • The neoclassical perspective, in conjunction with Keynesian ideas, is referred to as the neoclassical synthesis, which is largely considered the 'mainstream' economic perspective.
  • Neo-Keynesian economics is actually the formalization and coordination of Keynes's writings by a number of other economists (most notably John Hicks, Franco Modigliani, and Paul Samuelson).
  • Economists are often the product of multiple schools of thought, and don't fit neatly into one school or another.

• Economics as a Study of the Allocation of Scarce Resources

  • This increasingly narrow focus is the domain of modern, "neoclassical," microeconomic analysis.
  • This approach is typical of most economists and is referred to as orthodox economics.
  • Economists, accountants and others use the concept of present value to adjust the value of goods (or money) that will be acquired at some point in the future.

• Economic Way of Thinking

  • The differences among the French, English and Austrian economists are subtle but important.
  • Neoclassical economics grew out of Classical Economics and the Marginalist Revolution.
  • Alfred Marshall (1842-1924, English Economist), Léon Walras (1834-1910, French/Swiss) and Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923, Itallian/French/Swiss) were among the writers who were instrumental in the development of Neoclassical economics in the basic form that persists.
  • Many of the ideas of the Austrians have been incorporated into neoclassical or mainstream economics.
  • Veblen reacted against the sterile, individualism of neoclassical economics and coined the term "neoclassical."

• Equilibrium

  • In Neoclassical microeconomics, "equilibrium" is perceived as the condition where the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied; the behavior of all potential buyers is coordinated with the behavior of all potential sellers.
  • Graphically, economists represent a market equilibrium as the intersection of the demand and supply functions.
  • This notion of equilibrium is one of the fundamental organizing concepts of neoclassical economics.
  • Neoclassical economics uses "comparative statics" as a method by which different states can be analyzed.
  • Neoclassical microeconomics tends to focus on partial equilibrium.

• The Disadvantages of Socialism

  • Austrian school economists, such as Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig Von Mises, have argued that the elimination of private ownership of the means of production would inevitably create worse economic conditions for the general populace than those that would be found in market economies.
  • Critics from the neoclassical school of economics criticize state-ownership and centralization of capital on the grounds that there is a lack of incentive in state institutions to act on information as efficiently as capitalist firms because they lack hard budget constraints, resulting in reduced overall economic welfare for society.
  • Economists of the Austrian school argue that socialist systems based on economic planning are unfeasible because they lack the information to perform economic calculations in the first place, due to a lack of price signals and a free-price system, which they argue are required for rational economic calculation.

• Neoclassical Paintings

  • Neoclassical painting, produced by men and women, drew its inspiration from the classical art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
  • The works of Jacques-Louis David are widely considered to be the epitome of Neoclassical painting.
  • Neoclassical painting gained new momentum with the great success of David's Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785.
  • Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a Neoclassical painter of history and portraiture, was one of David's students.
  • Examples of his Neoclassical work include the paintings Virgil Reading to Augustus (1812), and Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864).

• Artistic Conventions in Painting

  • This tradition laid the foundations of many great collections and ensured the spread of the Neoclassical revival throughout Europe and America.
  • The softness of paint application that was typical of Rococo painting is recognized as the opposite of the Neoclassical style.
  • The works of Jaques-Louis David are widely considered to be the epitome of Neoclassical painting; many painters combined aspects of Romanticism with a vaguely Neoclassical style before David's success, but these works did not strike any chords with audiences.
  • Jean Auguste Dominique ingress, a Neoclassical painter of history and portraiture, was one of David's students.
  • Identify artistic techniques and themes of Neoclassical painting, as well as its key proponents

• Neoclassical Sculpture

  • In his tomb sculpture, the Enlightenment philosophe Voltaire is honored in true Neoclassical form.
  • Neoclassical sculptors benefited from an abundance of ancient models, albeit Roman copies of Greek bronzes in most cases.
  • The leading Neoclassical sculptors enjoyed much acclaim during their lifetimes.
  • Unlike some Neoclassical sculptors he did not insist on his sitters wearing Roman dress, or being unclothed.
  • Both represented the strongly idealizing tendency in Neoclassical sculpture.