The Ideology of Keynes

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The Ideology of Keynes

There is a certain degree of irony in considering the iconic figure that Keynes has become. For a man who was so thoroughly iconoclastic, rejecting established ideologies always in favor of his own, that he has become nearly synonymous with a mode of government or at least a school of economic thought, seems to be the richest sort of irony. In his Essays in Pursuasion, Keynes wrote the short piece “Am I a Liberal?” that took on the established political system of the time and thoroughly rejected it. For those seeking a quick answer to questions about the politics of his enigmatic General Theory, “Am I a Liberal?” would seem to raise more questions than it answers.

Nevertheless, Keynes makes it abundantly clear what he is not. He rejects the Conservatives and the Labour parties out of hand. While he seems to have contempt for the former, he cites the latter as a difference of class. The Labour party, for him, is one that is constructed around the notion of class conflict and class issues, which he cannot partake in from across the supposedly ...

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