In the middle of this generation’s largest fiscal crisis, we are looking for someone to turn to. The good news is we have found someone; the bad news is he has been dead for more than 60 years.

His name is John Maynard Keynes. Though he lived during the 20th century, his theories are applicable to today’s calamity. Regardless, economists are still divided over his views, which inspired President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill. So we are left asking this question: John Maynard Keynes, a badass or a bad apple?

Keynes was the driving force behind new economic ideas in the 1930s. These economic policies soon became known as Keynesian economics. Keynes argues that during tough economic times, the government, if needed, should deficit spend to put money back into the economy. This was revolutionary at the time.

“Keynes corrected what he saw as a fundamental error in the economics that had come before,” said Adam Davidson, who reports on business and economic issues for National Public Radio, in a segment on the history of Keynesian economics. “Under classical economics, if there is a downturn the economy will sort itself out. If people aren’t buying enough, prices will drop to where people start spending.”

The Keynesian treatment to a sick economy is government spending. This rationale says that when people do not have the money to spend, the government must step in. Eventually, Keynes’ ideas died out and were replaced with a new set of economic policies. This philosophy said that the best way for the government to help the economy is to have the Federal Reserve (or Fed, for short) control interest rates.

“This view held until Dec. 16, 2008, when the Fed tried to stabilize the economy by lowering interest rates all the way down to 0 percent. They can’t go lower, but the economy kept getting worse,” said Alex Bloomberg, a producer for NPR’s “This American Life,” in the Keynesian economics segment.

All bets are off. Deregulated markets run astray and all-time low interest rates do not rescue an all-time low market.

Even European leaders, who looked down on Obama’s stimulus package, have realized that Keynesian economics might just be the answer. Leaders of 19 nations and the European Union met in England on Thursday to discuss possible solutions to the financial crisis. As reported in The New York Times, the leadership at the summit emerged with plans to “bail out developing countries, stimulate world trade and regulate financial firms more stringently.”

These ideas all have a Keynesian ring to them. Stimulating trade, investing in developing countries and regulating the market allow world leaders to take an active approach when dealing with the economy. The key principle behind Keynesian economics is that the government should be active to help prevent economic recessions and depressions.

It seems everybody is vested in Keynesian economics. Deficit spending has a history of working, as proved by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, which helped lower unemployment during the Great Depression.

This theory worked in other countries, too. Germany evaded the Great Depression quicker than many other nations because they enacted a stimulus program.

Many call Keynesian economics irresponsible, but history has proven to us that it works. Keynes’ ideas may have fallen out sometime ago, but they are back and it looks like he will have the last laugh.

As for the answer to the question posed earlier in the column, John Maynard Keynes is a badass.

Reach Andrew at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu.