Keynes

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was a British economist whose ideas, later termed Keynesian economics, helped redefine modern macroeconomics and public policy. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, he held positions in the British Civil Service and Treasury, and he became a prominent public intellectual during and after World War I. In 1919 he published The Economic Consequences of the Peace, arguing that the punitive reparations imposed on Germany would prolong conflict and cause economic disruption.

His most influential work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936), rejected classical economics' emphasis on self-adjusting markets and argued that aggregate demand determines overall output and employment. Keynes proposed that governments could moderate downturns through active fiscal policy—spending and tax measures—to offset insufficient private demand, and that deficits could be sustained during recessions. He also introduced ideas such as the multiplier, the role of liquidity preference in determining interest rates, and the belief that monetary policy alone might be insufficient during deep slumps.

Keynes helped shape economic policy during and after World War II, contributing to the Bretton Woods Conference and influencing the postwar consensus on public investment, full employment, and social welfare programs. Though his ideas sparked debate and faced criticism from monetarists and others in the late 20th century, Keynes remains a central figure in macroeconomics, with his work continuing to inform debates on fiscal policy, demand management, and macroeconomic stabilization.