Seventy-eight years ago, on February 4, 1936, the British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) published what soon became his most famous work, “The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.” Few books, in so short a time, have gained such wide influence and generated so destructive an impact on public policy. What Keynes succeeded in doing was to provide a rationale for what governments always like to do: spend other people’s money and pander to special interests.
In the process Keynes helped undermine what had been three of the essential institutional ingredients of a free-market economy: the gold standard, balanced government budgets, and open competitive markets. In their place Keynes’s legacy has given us paper-money inflation, government deficit spending, and more political intervention throughout the market.
Comment
|
February 10th, 2014
J. M. Keynes: The Damage Still Done by a Defunct Economist
ca. 1940s — British Economist and Financier John Maynard Keynes — Image by © CORBIS
by Prof. Richard Ebeling
Seventy-eight years ago, on February 4, 1936, the British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) published what soon became his most famous work, “The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.” Few books, in so short a time, have gained such wide influence and generated so destructive an impact on public policy. What Keynes succeeded in doing was to provide a rationale for what governments always like to do: spend other people’s money and pander to special interests.
In the process Keynes helped undermine what had been three of the essential institutional ingredients of a free-market economy: the gold standard, balanced government budgets, and open competitive markets. In their place Keynes’s legacy has given us paper-money inflation, government deficit spending, and more political intervention throughout the market.
continue reading …
EPICTiMES
The views expressed on austriancenter.com are not necessarily those of the Austrian Economics Center.
Related
Comment
What the Shipping Container Shortage Reveals About US-China Trade
March 1st, 2021
Comment
Liberland, a new country in Europe bumps into Free Market Road Show
April 23rd, 2015
Comment
Hayek Understood the Perils of Referendums
February 21st, 2018
Comment
International Lectures Series: “The impossibility of central urban planning”
October 21st, 2015
Comment
Is Capitalism Sustainable?
March 26th, 2019
Sendinblue Newsletter