Who authored The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money and asserted that large-scale government deficit spending was appropriate during economic downturns?

John Maynard Keynes

Explanation:

John Maynard Keynes was one of the most influential economists of the twentieth century, and his ideas about the need for government intervention in times of economic downturn are the subject of debate today.

Basically, Keynes opposes the classical economists' idea of the austerity policies used in times of economic cooling. In his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, the author suggests that in recessionary situations, governments should expand fiscal spending to stimulate the economy. Keynes's ideas were the basis for the plan of recovery of the American economy during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Franklin Roosevelt New Deal.