THE NEED FOR STATE IN THE ECONOMY- EPISTEMOLOGICAL APPROACH

The aim of this paper is to discuss the need for state in the economy, in an epistemological viewpoint. It presents in a critical manner the ideas on the state of the mercantilism and physiocracy representatives, of the classical and Keynesian economists and of the so-called current the new liberal orthodoxy”. It is noticed that the need for a minimal state, as a condition of proper functioning of the society, has been justified even by those who have criticized it (classical liberals), being recognized that a society can not be conceived anarchic and utopian. If during ’29-’33s, the philosophy of laisser-faire was replaced by the Keynesian doctrine, and ’70s have placed the welfare state in a crisis of legitimacy, starting from 2008 we can talk of a resurgence of the Keynesian paradigm, according to which government intervention is seen as a way to stimulate the economic recovery.