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Keynes
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Keynes

Return of the Master

Robert Skidelsky
Public Affairs, 2009

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Recommendation

The modern recession casts doubt on many long-held economic beliefs, in particular, the validity of free markets. Unable to agree on causes or remedies, economists look on as politicians try various kinds of stimulus spending and corporate bailouts. Pundits call forth the ghost of John Maynard Keynes, often incorrectly labeled as a has-been socialist and tax-and-spend liberal. But Robert Skidelsky, Keynes’ biographer and a noted expert on the economist and his work, reveals how Keynes’ pre-World War II experiences shaped an economic worldview that still holds lessons for the 21st century. This scholarly book assumes that the reader has more than a nodding acquaintance with modern economic theory and philosophy, yet Skidelsky also injects literary references and sparks of wit that enliven the sometimes-challenging text. getAbstract suggests this abbreviated, but solid, look at Keynes to students of economic and political history, and to anyone who is trying to make sense of how the 2008 crisis happened and how to move forward.

Take-Aways

  • John Maynard Keynes is one of the 20th century’s great economic philosophers.
  • He gained practical experience working in government, managing clients’ money, and making and losing several fortunes.
  • The modern global economic crisis raises questions about what role the state should play in economic life, with “saltwater” and “freshwater” economists on opposite sides.

About the Author

Robert Skidelsky, emeritus professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, is the award-winning author of a three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes.

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    B. B. 1 decade ago
    This is the same rhetoric of every Keynesian, despite the poor results. These economists never look at the cause of the "free market" actions they claim to be at fault. If the free market failed so, why? Maybe because the central bank forced interest rates so low that banks either lend or lose. Why not be risky when you have a central bank to soak up the risk? A central bank running things is not free market, that's Keynesian and thats the problem... no naturally regulating standard such as the gold standard to rein in the central bank, that is free market, that is Keynes... I'd say our problems start there!