What You Shouldn’t Know about Economics

PAUL McGOULDRICK

The late John Maynard Keynes reached the cover of Time Magazine in 1966, and therefore a certain immortality. But even at the time, students of money did not have to be told of the legend that this honor presaged bad luck for the recipient. The monetarist counterrevolution against Keynes’ theories and recommendations was already under way; and what was then a stream has become a flood. Moreover, defenders of the Keynesian heritage have transformed the Master’s teachings to the point where he might, if living, exclaim, I am not a Keynesian. To see what both attackers and defenders have been up to, it is necessary to state the core of Keynes’ teachings and how his view of the public’s demand for money is at the heart of the argument.

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Paul McGouldrick

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PAUL McGOULDRICK

The late John Maynard Keynes reached the cover of Time Magazine in 1966, and therefore a certain immortality. But even at the time, students of money did not have to be told of the legend that this honor presaged bad luck for the recipient. The monetarist counterrevolution against Keynes’ theories and recommendations was already under way; and what was then a stream has become a flood. Moreover, defenders of the Keynesian heritage have transformed the Master’s teachings to the point where he might, if living, exclaim, I am not a Keynesian. To see what both attackers and defenders have been up to, it is necessary to state the core of Keynes’ teachings and how his view of the public’s demand for money is at the heart of the argument.