It is quite a common phenomenon when a certain concept within a particular discipline becomes a subject of considerable debate. Though, such sort of debates can last for decades in case this controversy is not of primary importance to human activity. Taking this point into account, it is to be said that such discipline of economics is not capable of prolonged debates because it is a dynamically developing field of human activity. As a consequence, a strong controversy over this science can lead to negative outcomes. Therefore, the majority of economics’ concepts are compared among each other in order to reveal the aptest one for the implementation in a particular environment. In such a way, it is necessary to provide a comparison and contrast between two economic thoughts, namely the German and the American and outline numerous perspectives.
First of all, the impact of both economic thoughts on the macroeconomic environment has to be described. Moreover, these impacts should be assessed in order to estimate their actual contribution to world economics. In addition, this estimation is expected to be exemplified in order to provide empirical evidence of these economic thoughts. In the same way, an equal assessment has to be conducted in terms of the United States economy. In this case, a vivid rationale is required. As a consequence, it is important to linger on the primary manners, which will enable policymakers to implement these economic concepts with regard to the following issues. Thus, these concepts are supposed to address economic growth, business cycle fluctuations, tax reform, and growing income inequality.
Schools of Economic Thought Description
Initially, the schools of economic thought have to be presented. Therefore, the first school of economic thought is German, which has emerged after devastating periods of the World Wars. With reference to this point, it should be admitted that it is the basis for the entire thought. In fact, the economy of Germany started growing after World War II. As a consequence, the abilities, which were gained during this period, have become the central points of economic thought. To be more exact, the tempos of the economy’s development have not changed after the German society was restored. Furthermore, as Keynes claimed, the German economy was developing with the primary focus on the production rather than trade. In fact, Keynes as one of the prominent economists emphasized the fact that the German economy should progress naturally so that it cannot remain in the same state as it was in the post-war period because it can influence entire Europe.
By way of contrast, it is important to note that the United States actually utilized the idea of focusing on production. As a result, capitalism has emerged. Nowadays there is a wide range of representatives who claim capitalism to be a perfect economic concept. For instance, Bill Gates has supported this concept in his numerous public speeches. In general, the main idea of this concept is the focus on production so that organizations will create a competitive environment within markets. In other words, the company which suggests a wide choice of products will obtain more market shares. In spite of the fact that recent discussions have a little agreement on the credibility of capitalism, it is to be noted that this economic thought origin from the American school, and nowadays it is the most widespread concept, which makes a considerable impact on the macroeconomics.
The Level of Impact Assessment
With regard to the German school of economic thought, it is important to admit that its main impact should be referred to its original concept. As it has been described in the previous section, post-war Germany was particularly focused on the production rather than on trade. In such a way, this approach has become the fundamental basis for the modern American and Japanese schools of economic thought. Therefore, the German school is comparable in its basic idea to American capitalism. However, significant differences between German and American school still can be found. In fact, it can be demonstrated by the way of the following example. Needless to say that Volkswagen is one of the leading companies in the car industry. Though, a significant expansion on the other markets was launched only in the middle of 1960s. Before that time, Volkswagen automobiles were hard to access for foreign customers. Hence, Germany was oriented on the production of goods for national use in order to restore its economy after the war.
As for the American school of economic thought, the impact on the world economy is quite evident. Capitalism to the broadest extent has been boosted by the terms of liberal tendencies in the world economy. Even though the controversy about the credibility of capitalism has raged unabated for recent years, it is increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that this concept makes a significant impact on the current macroeconomics. In such a way, by contrast to the German school of economic thought, the American concept claims the competitiveness to be the key factor in modern tendencies of the economy. In other words, production should be oriented on the competition but not on the customer segments. For instance, a German tissue brand Kleenex has entered the U.S. market. For the first time, it failed to obtain a significant market share because it suggested only one kind of tissues. As the entire product line had been designed, the brand started being more competitive because customers could choose the preferable product instead of purchasing the products of the other brands.
Assessment of the Current Economic Situation of the United States
Speaking about the perspective of the German school of economic thought, first of all, it is important to admit that this concept would assess the economic situation of the U.S. as a drastic deviation from the natural approach of development. In other words, the German school would claim that the competitive markets are created artificially. In the same way, this concept would argue that contemporary U.S. markets provide their customers with what they produce but not with what customers really need. In the majority of cases, it is certainly true that the German school of economic thought would suggest the increase of competition by focusing on the production aimed for the satisfaction of the national interests. However, compared with the American school of economic thought, the German concept would agree on the need to improve the scientific background of the production. As a result, it would