Abstract:

The main aim of this paper is to underline the strong similarities existing between the most devastating crisis in economic history, namely the Great Depression, and the current economic crisis. It also emphasizes the different approaches that the governments of many developed countries have adopted this time, in contrast with the Keynesian prescriptions that proved to be the adequate solutions for obtaining a fast economic recovery and a healthy economic growth for many years, in the past. In this paper we attempt to argue that, even though nowadays there are different economic circumstances than in the ’30s, mainly because of the huge budget deficits that exist in many countries, the Keynesian solutions based on increasing the aggregate demand and obtaining a high level of employment, still represent the most appropriate answers for the major economic recessions like the one we are witnessing today.