"We are all Keynesians now" is a now-famous phrase coined by Milton Friedman and attributed to U.S. president Richard Nixon. It is popularly associated with the reluctant embrace in a time of financial crisis of Keynesian economics by individuals such as Nixon who had formerly favored monetarist policies.
The phrase was first attributed to Milton Friedman in the December 31, 1965 edition of Time magazine.[1] In the February 4, 1966 edition, Friedman wrote a letter clarifying that his original statement had been "In one sense, we are all Keynesians now; in another, nobody is any longer a Keynesian."[2]
In 1971, after taking the United States off the gold standard,[3] Nixon was quoted as saying "I am now a Keynesian in economics",[4] which became popularly associated with Friedman's phrase.
The origin of the phrase goes back even further to 19th century Liberal statesmen William Vernon Harcourt, who on the 11 August 1887, whilst giving a speech on The Labourers' Allotments Bill, remarked that "we are all Socialists now"[5]
In 2002, Peter Mandleson wrote an article in The Times declaring "we are all Thatcherites now", referring to the acceptance amongst the other political parties of Margaret Thatcher's economic policies.[6]
The phrase gained new life in the midst of the global financial crisis of 2008, when economists called for massive investment in infrastructure and job creation as a means of economic stimulation.[7][8]
The February 2009 cover of Newsweek played on the phrase with the headline, "We are all socialists now," referring to the growing trend of American politicians of both parties to favor the centralization of power through the mutual expansion of government. Graphically, this was symbolized by a cover picture featuring a red hand (Republican) shaking a blue hand (Democrat).[9]