Keynes Against Capitalism: His Economic Case for Liberal Socialism
by James Crotty  (Author)

About the Author
James Crotty is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Senior Research Associate at the Political Economy Research Institute. His research in theory and policy attempts to integrate the complementary analytical strengths of the Marxian and Keynesian traditions.

About this book
Keynes is one of the most important and influential econo-mists who ever lived. It is almost universally believed that Keynes wrote his magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, to save capitalism from the socialist, communist, and fascist forces that were rising up during the Great Depression era. This book argues that this was not the case with respect to socialism.
Tracing the evolution of Keynes’s views on policy from WWI until his death in 1946, Crotty argues that virtually all post-WWII "Keynesian" econo-mists misinterpreted crucial parts of Keynes’s economic theory, misunderstood many of his policy views, and failed to realize that his overarching political objective was not to save British capitalism, but rather to replace it with Liberal Socialism. This book shows how Keynes’s Liberal Socialism began to take shape in his mind in the mid-1920s, evolved into a more concrete institutional form over the next decade or so, and was laid out in detail in his work on postwar economic planning at Britain’s Treasury during WWII. Finally, it explains how The General Theory provided the rigorous economic theoretical foundation needed to support his case against capitalism in support of Liberal Socialism.
Offering an original and highly informative analysis of Keynes’s work, this book should be of great interest to teachers and students of economics. It should also appeal to a general audience interested in the role the most important econo-mist of the 20th century played in developing the case against capitalism and in support of Liberal Socialism. Keynes Against Capitalism is especially relevant in the context of today’s global economic and political crises.

Brief contents

• Introduction: was Keynes trying to save capitalism or create “Liberal Socialism?” 1
• PART I From The Economic Consequences of the Peace to The General Theory 23
• 2 The Economic Consequences of the Peace: 1919 25
• 3 Making sense of chaos: 1919– 1923 34
• 4 Public investment and state planning in 1924: the real Keynesian revolution begins 48
• 5 The return to gold in 1925: deflation, social justice, and class struggle 63
• 6 Three important “essays in persuasion” on the proper economic role of the state: 1925– 1926 70
• 7 Destructive competition, corporatism, industrial policy, and the new economic role of the state: 1927– 1928 84
• 8 Britain’s Industrial Future and the Board of National Investment: a detailed analysis of the institutions to be used by the state to regulate capital accumulation in pursuit of full employment under Liberal Socialism 95
• 9 On the edge of the Great Depression: Keynes continues his efforts to gain political support for the radical policies in Britain’s Industrial Future 116
• 10 Keynes on “insane” financial markets and the emergence of stagnation in the USA in the early 1930s 136
• 11 National self- sufficiency: 1933 152
• PART II The General Theory: the ultimate defense in theory of Keynes’s radical policy agenda 159
• 12 Methodology and ideology: Keynes versus the classicists 161
• 13 The priority of high- unemployment long- run equilibrium or “secular stagnation” in The General Theory 172
• 14 Upon further reflection: Keynes on secular stagnation in 1937 201
• 15 Keynes versus the classicists on the effects of wage and price deflation 209
• 16 Keynes versus the classicists on disequilibrium processes in the bond market 221
• 17 Chapter 12 of The General Theory: the “insane” stock market, capital investment, and instability 239
• 18 The theory of the business cycle in chapter 22: integrating the profit rate and the bond and stock markets in a theory of financial and economic instability 264
• 19 Are the “models” Keynes created in The General Theory compatible with the IS/ LM interpretation of the book? A digression 269
• 20 Keynes’s radical policy views in The General Theory 291
• PART III State planning, public investment, and Liberal Socialism after The General Theory 311
• 21 From The General Theory until Britain entered WWII: 1936– 1939 313
• 22 Keynes and government postwar economic planning for “Liberal Socialism” during the war: 1939– 1945 326
• 23 Thoughts on the relevance of Keynes’s work to solving today’s economic problems: the society– economy nexus, methodology, theory, and policy 366
• References 379
• Index 383
  

Series: Economics as Social Theory
Pages: 410 pages
Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (May 16, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1138612847
ISBN-13: 978-1138612846