Great recessions compared

Like the Great Depression of the 1930s, the current great recession triggered strong criticism of economists and economics. It is contended here that economists' majority opinion rightly recommended that, in the face of collapses of aggregate demand, countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies, built-in stabilisers and a regulatory system to maintain free trade were appropriate remedies. Economists may have under -estimated the stability of markets and the tightness of prudential regulation for reducing the severity of potential crises. But their assessments anyway are likely to be discounted if powerful industry lobbies judge they will constrain profits, rather than boost them. These propositions are developed in a comparison of the two Great Recessions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. (C) 2013 Asociacion Espaiiola de Historia Economica. Published by Elsevier Espaiia, S.L. All rights reserved.