Keynesian and monetarist frameworks often talk past each other because they focus on different failure points. Keynesian theory highlights demand shocks, liquidity traps, and the moments when private spending collapses. Monetarists emphasize policy errors, unstable money supply, and the role of central banks in amplifying downturns. Both perspectives capture real mechanisms, but they illuminate different parts of the cycle.

Crises rarely have a single cause, which is why neither school offers a complete explanation on its own. Demand, credit, expectations, and policy interact in ways that make downturns both economic and psychological events. The debate continues because each framework isolates a different channel of instability.