In Part Two of John Maynard Keynes, Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt reconnect with Keynes in the 1930s, as he slowly pulls together his magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. This book changed everything for Keynes, and the rest of us, by establishing Keynesianism as a new way to understand both the economy and society. Ian and Dorian discuss the last decade of Keynes’ life, from the New Deal to the Second World War to the Bretton Woods conference which established the post-war order. When Keynes died suddenly in 1946, his ardent disciples had just begun remaking the world. Did Keynes save capitalism from itself?

“We are all Keynesians now,” declared Time magazine in 1965, but 10 years later a global economic crisis was opening the door to the neoliberal counter-revolution, led by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. Were the Keynesians more Keynesian than Keynes himself? Should he be credited with the post-war boom and blamed for its dramatic implosion? Is the relationship between Keynesian and neoliberal visions more complex than it appears? And are Joe Biden and Keir Starmer taking us into a new age of Keynes?

Reading list for both episodes

Books

Roger E. Backhouse and Bradley W. Bateman — Capitalist Revolutionary: John Maynard Keynes, 2011

Bradley W. Bateman, Toshiaki Hirai and Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, eds. — The Return to Keynes, 2010

Zach Carter — The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, 2020

Peter Clarke — Keynes: The Twentieth Century’s Most Influential Economist, 2010

Roy Harrod — The Life of John Maynard Keynes, 1951

John Maynard Keynes — The Essential Keynes, 2015

Robert Skidelsky — John Maynard Keynes 1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman, 2004

Nicholas Wapshott — Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics, 2011

Online:

John Maynard Keynes, ‘Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren’, 1930

https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/archive/keynes_persuasion/Economic_Possibilities_for_our_Grandchildren.htm

We Are All Keynesians Now, Time, 1965

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,842353,00.html

Tides of History podcast with Zach Carter

https://podcasts.apple.com/bg/podcast/john-maynard-keynes-and-his-legacies-interview-with/id1257202425?i=1000476041925

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production.

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