미국경제에서의 연방정부의 위상-1930년대와 1980년대의 비교-

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the role of federal government in the American economy, especially when faced with severe economic difficulties. Research work is done largely through comparing p이icy responses by the Roosevelt government to the Great Depression in the 1930s with those by the Reagon administration in the 1980s to the prolonged economic stagflation after the oil shocks Utilizing the existing studies and economic statistics, we trace the economic crises to their backgrounds and detailed situations. And we examine the two cases in terms of changes in peoples primary concerns, the ideological changes in intellectual society and world economic situation at that time. Then we draw the characteristics of policy responses by respective governments, the perception on the crisis by the presidential leadership, belief in self-correcting market mechanism, the role of the government in the capitalist economy, and relative importance among the various levels of the government. During the New Deal period from March 1933 till the outbreak of World War II , the Roosevelt Administration has shown adept capability to adopt swiftly the broad-ranged New Deal programs to enact the laws for establishing the new institutions and protecting the unemployed, the elderly and the disabled. The Great Depression in the 1930s resulted in a watershed for a fundamental change in the relationships between the public sector and the private sector and between the different levels of the government. The New Deal has a long-lasting mark in modem American history in the forms of much greater role of federa1 government, many social welfare programs, labour union, minimum wages and so on. Economica11y the federa1 govemment expanded its expenditures to stabilize the macroeconomic condition when the economy lacked sufficient aggregate demand. That is, the government increased market intervention, which was contrasted with the c1assica1 view of the less government and the greater and freer markets in tenns of economic system. The Reagon Administration in the 1980s has reversed the interventionist policy regime to the new regime. The turning point in recent U.S. economic policy was the yeaτ 1978 under Carter Administration, prior to Reagon election. In 1978, energy and airline deregulation were passed and inflation was announced as the nationa1 priority economic problem by the government. The tum to the new policy paradigm was basica11y viewed as a proper response to the quite changed environment, the prolonged economic stagnation-cum-inflation in the 1970s. The stagflation seemed to be caused by the oil price hikes and wrongly heavy dependence on government spending to sustain the economic expansion. Faced with such stagflation, a series of actions, since the late 1970s, has been taken to a110w market forces greater rein and national priority for fighting inflation has been established. This implies that the new policy regime has at least debilitated the previous interventionist trend since the New Deal. This new regime favoured actions for deregulation and monetary restraint, fostering incentives for entrepreneurship and innovations. Under the new policy regime, combined with technologica1 advancement especially in information and tele-communication technologies, the United States has experienced a longer economic expansion with low price inflation since early 1990s, the New Economy. However we still expect to decide whether the New Economy is distinct from the traditional one and to measure how much the new regime has contributed to the economic performance during the 199Os.