Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, Vol 15, No 7 (2019)

Abstract

Neoclassical economists backs the views of the classicists that the capitalist economic system has an inbuilt mechanism' to correct the ills of any economy that adapts this system. The Marxists, on the other hand, opposed the capitalist system and maintained that the former has the seed of its own destruction inherent in the system. Marx himself predicted that capitalism was full of crisis and since his prediction, three major crises had taken place and all had their origin in the United States. The first one took place in the 1830s and was limited to some European countries, The second one took place in the 1930s and was described as the Great Depression - with a greater spread because of improvement in communication. The most recent one which started in 2008 is described as the Global Financial Meltdown and has the greatest spread because of the impact of globalization. Because of this particular crisis, die-hard capitalist countries are now thinking in the direction of socialism and it is not uncommon to hear of terms like Regulation, Nationalization, Stimulus Packages, Reforms, and Government Intervention, among others. Some recommendations have been made as to how Nigeria could come out of the biting financial crisis.

Keywords: Neoclassical, Marxist, Capitalism, Socialism, Great Depression, Financial Meltdown