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Lessons of Keynes’s Economic Consequences in a Turbulent Century

Author

Listed:
  • Obstfeld, Maurice
  • Clavin, Patricia
  • Corsetti, Giancarlo
  • Tooze, Adam

Abstract

Just over a century old, John Maynard Keynes’s The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) remains a seminal document of the twentieth century. At the time, the book was a prescient analysis of political events to come. In the decades that followed, this still controversial text became an essential ingredient in the unfolding of history. In this essay, we review the arc of experience since 1919 from the perspective of Keynes’s influence and his changing understanding of economics, politics, and geopolitics. We identify how he, his ideas, and this text became key reference points during times of turbulence as actors sought to manage a range of shocks. Near the end of his life, Keynes would play a central role in planning the world economy’s reconstruction after World War II. We argue that the “global order†that evolved since then, marked by increasingly polarized societies, leaves the community of nations ill prepared to provide key global public goods or to counter critical collective threats.

Suggested Citation

  • Obstfeld, Maurice & Clavin, Patricia & Corsetti, Giancarlo & Tooze, Adam, 2021. "Lessons of Keynes’s Economic Consequences in a Turbulent Century," CEPR Discussion Papers 16610, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:16610
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Keynes; World war i; Versailles; Interwar period; League of nations; World war ii; Bretton woods; Cold war; Multilateralism; Global order;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B3 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals
    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N2 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions

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