“For many years, the hands-off fiscal policies advocated by the classical economists held sway with American government. When times were hard, the prevailing response was to tough it out,
awaiting the ‘inevitable’ turnaround. The lessons of the Great Depression and a booming wartime
economy have since taught us, however, that government intervention is sometimes necessary and
desirable—and that to an extent, we can take charge of our own economic lives.” Evaluate the
foregoing quotation based upon the discussion in this chapter. How would you classify the
speaker in terms of a school of economic thought?