Critical assessment of the mainstream interpretation of the end of the Golden Age of Western Capitalism

Authors

  • Luciano Alencar Barros Rio de Janeiro State University
  • Carlos Pinkusfeld Bastos Rio de Janeiro Federal University

Keywords:

Golden Age, History of Economic Thought, Political Economy, Monetarism

Abstract

This paper aims to present and critically analyze the mainstream interpretation of the end of the Golden Age of Western capitalism, a phase of high economic growth and low unemployment rates that followed the Second World War. In this sense, Milton Friedman's contribution, in the context of the rise of the liberal movement, is understood as being the main reference, both for the dominant interpretation of the stagflation of the 1970s and to support economic policies (which contributed to the macroeconomic performance) of subsequent decades. Thus, through literature review and analysis of descriptive statistics, the paper points to the political bias of the emergence of the monetarist theoretical framework, whose dominance both reflected and had a great impact on the conditions of the distributive conflict of the analyzed period.

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Author Biographies

Luciano Alencar Barros, Rio de Janeiro State University

Researcher at the Rio de Janeiro State University, Institute of Social and Political Studies. PhD and MSc in Economics of Industry and Technology and graduated in Economic Sciences from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Carlos Pinkusfeld Bastos, Rio de Janeiro Federal University

Professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Institute of Economics. PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research, United States; MSc in Economics of Industry and Technology from the Rio de Janeiro Federal University.

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Published

2022-12-22

How to Cite

Barros, L. A., & Bastos, C. P. (2022). Critical assessment of the mainstream interpretation of the end of the Golden Age of Western Capitalism. Cadernos Do Desenvolvimento, 17(31), 179–209. Retrieved from https://cadernosdodesenvolvimento.org.br/cdes/article/view/598

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 31 (2022)

Section

Artigos

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