John Maynard Keynes

This book explains the influences, in terms of persons and events, that led Keynes to overthrow the classical theory of economics and replace it with his own revolutionary general theory.

This book examines the life of John Maynard Keynes, explores his influential writings and theories, and assesses his legacy. Davidson looks at the life of Keynes leading up to the writing of his seminal General Theory, and traces the roots of this work in Keynes’s early influences, as well as examining the General Theory in detail, and exploring how it differs from classical theory. The impact of Keynes’s work on the economy postwar and up to the present day is also assessed.

PAUL DAVIDSON is Visiting Scholar at the New School for Social Research, Bernard Schwartz Center For Economic Policy Analysis, USA. He has previously held Professorships at the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and the University of Tennessee. He is Editor of the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, a former member of Brookings Economics Panel, and is the author, co-author or editor of twenty-two books and more than 200 articles. His books include Money and the Real World, Post Keynesian Macroeconomic Theory, International Money and the Real World: Economics for a Civilized Society, and Financial Markets, Money and the Real World.

‘Davidson convincingly shows how Keynes’s radical assault on classical economic theory was undermined by mainstream interpreters anxious to make his doctrines politically acceptable. Keynes’s own ‘general theory’ is compellingly explained; its obfuscators attacked with Davidson’s familiar panache.’ - Lord Skidelsky, author of John Maynard Keynes 1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman
 
‘This could be the best one-volume treatment of Keynes’s economics since Keynes himself. Clear, logical and faithful, Paul Davidson introduces the real Keynes to a new generation. And do we ever need him.’ - James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin and Levy Economic Institute
 
‘Global imbalances, the unshackling of capital, the precarious state of modern capitalism: rarely has the world of economics been in more need of the thoughts of John Maynard Keynes. Although Keynes is no longer with us, this book is the next best thing. Paul Davidson is the leading expert on Keynes and Keynesianism and his book should be read by anybody who wants to understand the world as it is, rather than as the economic text books say it ought to be.’ - Larry Elliott, Economics Editor, The Guardian
 
‘Paul Davidson’s fascinating, encyclopaedic book captures the drama of the appearance of the General Theory, illuminates the controversies still surrounding it, and passionately defends Keynes’s radical innovations in economic theory and policy. It is high time for economists and policymakers to go back to Keynes’s own words, whose power Davidson so effectively articulates.’ - Peter L. Bernstein, President of Peter L. Bernstein, Inc., and author of Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk and Capital Ideas Evolving

An Introduction to Keynes and his Revolutionary Views * How the Great War and its Aftermath Affected Keynes’s Thinking * Keynes’s Middle Way Liberalism is Truly a New Way * The Before and After of Keynes’s General Theory * The Conceptual Difference between Keynes’s General Theory and Classical Theory – Savings and Liquidity * Further Differentiating Keynes’s Aggregate Demand Function * The Importance of Money, Contracts and Liquid Financial Markets * World War II and the Post War Open Economies System * Classical Trade Theory vs. Keynes’s General Theory of International Trade and International Payments * Reforming the World’s Money * Inflation * Keynes’s Revolution: The Evidence Showing Who Killed Cock Robin