Past Masters S.
3 total works
In the debris of the financial crash of 2008, the principles of John Maynard Keynes that economic storms are a normal part of the market system, that governments need to step in and use fiscal ammunition to prevent these storms from becoming depressions, and that societies that value the pursuit of money should reprioritize are more pertinent and applicable than ever. In Keynes: The Return of the Master, Robert Skidelsky brilliantly synthesizes Keynes career and life, and offers nervous capitalists a positive answer to the question we now face: When unbridled capitalism falters, is there an alternative?
This volume contains studies of three of the most influential economic theorists: Smith, whose masterpiece of economic theory, "The Wealth of Nations", advocated free trade; Malthus, whose polemical first "Essay on Population" generated more misunderstanding and personal vilification than any comparable figure in the history of social and political thought; and Keynes, central thinker of the 20th-century, whose doctrines continue to inspire strong feelings in admirers and detractors alike.
In simple language, D.D. Raphael presents the systematic character of Adam Smith's theory, its emphasis on and expanation of econmic growth, its advocacy of free trade, and its underlying philosophy of 'natural liberty'.