Description
John Maynard Keynes had an enormous impact on the 20th century. He not only developed the economic theory that bears his name (and which radically altered the study of economics), he also spoke out strongly against authoritarian governments, and he believed that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. From the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 to the establishment of an international monetary system at Bretton Woods (1944), Keynes stood at the heart of Anglo-American finances, waging an incessant battle against the rigid conservative ideas of bankers and academic economists. Two of his books, The Economic Consequences of the Peace and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, greatly influenced the way people and governments thought. In Keynes' life we can see much of the intellectual, political and economic history of the 20th century. This biography situates Keynes’ economic theories in his overall political and philosophical worldview and situates Keynes himself in the Bloomsbury art and intellectual milieu. Carter also discusses the long reach of Keynes’ ideas in the aftermath of his death, in 1946, to our present day politics .
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Introduction; Ch. 1, After the Gold Rush; Ch. 2, Blood Money
Week 2: Ch. 3, Paris and Its Discontents; Ch. 4, Consequences
Week 3: Ch. 5, From Metaphysics to Money; Ch. 6, Prolegomena to a New Socialism
Week 4: Ch. 7, The Great Crash
Week 5: Ch. 8, Phoenix
Week 6: Ch. 9, The End of Scarcity
Week 7: Ch. 10, Came the Revolution
Week 8: Ch. 11, War and Revolution; Ch. 12, Martyr to the Good Life
Week 9: Ch. 13: The Aristocracy Strikes Back
Week 10: Ch. 14, The Affluent Society and Its Enemies
Week 11: Ch. 15, The Beginning of the End
Week 12: Ch. 16, The Return of the Nineteenth Century
Week 13: Ch. 17, The Second Gilded Age
Week 14: Conclusion
Bibliography
Zachary D. Carter, The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes (Random House, 2020)
