John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) is perhaps the foremost economic thinker of the twentieth century. On economic theory, he ranks with Adam Smith and Karl Marx; and his impact on how economics was practiced, from the Great Depression to the 1970s, was unmatched.
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was first published in 1936. But its ideas had been forming for decades ? as a student at Cambridge, Keynes had written to a friend of his love for 'Free Trade and free thought'. Keynes's limpid style, concise prose, and vivid descriptions have helped to keep his ideas alive - as have the novelty and clarity, at times even the ambiguity, of his macroeconomic vision. He was troubled, above all, by high unemployment rates and large disparities in wealth and income. Only by curbing both, he thought, could individualism, 'the most powerful instrument to better the future', be safeguarded. The twenty-first century may yet prove him right.
In The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), Keynes elegantly and acutely exposes the folly of imposing austerity on a defeated and struggling nation.
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is Keynes' masterpiece published right after the Great Depression. It sought to bring about a revolution, commonly referred to as the Keynesian Revolution, in the way economists thought - especially challenging the proposition that a market economy tends naturally to restore itself to full employment on its own. Regarded widely as the cornerstone of Keynesian thought, this book challenged the established classical economics and introduced new concepts. It remains a relevant topic of debate to this day, perhaps more than ever. Given the economic turmoil of recent years, this debate is more heated than ever, between the Keynesian model of economics of Bush and Obama which favors bailouts and other government intervention to try to stabilize the market, and the Austrian school of economics which sees government intervention as detrimental and favors letting the market sort itself out on its own with minimal government interference. You decide.
In The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes critiques the Treaty of Versailles, forewarning its devastating impact on Europe. His incisive analysis and foresight into economic instability remain relevant, highlighting the perils of political decisions on global economies.
First published in December 1919, this global bestseller attacking those who had made the peace in Paris after the First World War, sparked immediate controversy. It also made John Maynard Keynes famous overnight and soon came to define how people around the world viewed the Versailles Peace Treaty. In Germany the book, which argued against reparations, was greeted with enthusiasm; in France with dismay; and in the US as ammunition that could be (and was) used against Woodrow Wilson in his ultimately unsuccessful bid to sell the League of Nations to an increasingly sceptical American public. Meanwhile in his own country the book provoked outrage amongst establishment critics - Keynes was even refused membership of the prestigious British Academy - while admirers from Winston Churchill to the founders of the LSE, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, went on to praise Keynes for his wisdom and humanity. Keynes may have written what he thought was a reasoned critique of the economics of the peace settlement. In effect, he had penned a political bombshell whose key arguments are still being debated today. The Economic Consequences of the Peace is now reissued by Keynes' publisher of choice with a new introduction from Michael Cox, one of the major figures in the field of International Relations today. Scholarly yet engaged and readable, Cox's introduction to the work - written a century after the book first hit the headlines - critically appraises Keynes' polemic contextualising and bringing to life the text for a new generation of scholars and students of IR, IPE, Politics and History. The original text and this authoritative introduction provide essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the tragedy that was the twentieth century; why making peace with former enemies can be just as hard as winning a war against them; and how and why ideas really do matter.
John Maynard Keynes was a British economist whose theories had a profound impact on twentieth century history and economic practice. Born and raised in Cambridge, England to highly successful, intelligent parents John and Florence Keynes, he attended Eton and King's College, Cambridge where he joined the intellectual group called The Apostles with the likes of Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, and Bertrand Russell. In 1919, after attending the Paris Peace Conference as economic advisor to Prime Minister Lloyd George, Keynes resigned from a prominent position in the Treasury and published The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a stinging indictment of the Versailles Treaty. Keynes expressed his opposition to the political practices that were taking place, and the work gained him instant notoriety. The impact of this, and other, works on economic theory and policy led to what is now termed the Keynesian Revolution of the twentieth century, and helped shape modern macroeconomics. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.