2008–2009 Keynesian resurgence

Following the global 2007–2008 financial crisis, there was a worldwide resurgence of interest in Keynesian economics among prominent economists and policy makers. This included discussions and implementation of economic policies in accordance with the recommendations made by John Maynard Keynes in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s, most especially fiscal stimulus and expansionary monetary policy.

From the end of the Great Depression until the early 1970s, Keynesian economics provided the main inspiration for economic policy makers in Western industrialized countries. The influence of Keynes's theories waned in the 1970s due to stagflation and critiques from Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Robert Lucas Jr., and other economists who had less faith in the ability of government intervention to regulate the economy, or were otherwise opposed to Keynesian policies. From the early 1980s to 2008, the consensus among economists was that attempts at fiscal stimulus would be ineffective even in a recession, and such policies were only occasionally employed by the governments of developed countries.

In 2008, prominent economic journalists and economists began arguing in favour of Keynesian stimulus. From October onward, policy makers began announcing major stimulus packages, in hopes of heading off a global depression. By early 2009, there was widespread acceptance among the world's economic policy makers about the need for fiscal stimulus. Yet by late 2009, the consensus among economists began to break down. In 2010, with a depression averted but unemployment in many countries still high, policy makers generally decided against further fiscal stimulus, with several voicing concerns over public debt. Unconventional monetary policy continued to be used in attempts to raise economic activity. By 2016, increasing concerns had arisen that monetary policy was reaching the limit of its effectiveness, and several countries began to return to fiscal stimulus.