Keynes is associated with a belief in activist economic policy aimed at ensuring counter-cyclical responses to economic fluctuations – expansionary policies during recessions and policy tightening during upswings. Friedman, by contrast, opposed discretionary policymaking, believing that government institutions lacked the ability to get the timing right.
凯恩斯相信应该执行激进的经济政策来对经济波动现象作出逆周期回应——即在经济衰退期实施扩张政策，回升时实施紧缩政策。弗德里曼则相反，他反对任意的政策决定，他认为政府机构缺乏捕捉时机的能力。但两人都反对顺周期政策，比如误入歧途的美国1937年财政与货币紧缩：在经济尚未完全恢复前，罗斯福总统提高税收并削减开支，而美联储提高存款准备金率，结果这些举措延长并恶化了经济大萧条。