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2 - The Making of a Classic: Keynes and the Origins of The Economic Consequences of the Peace

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2023

By
Michael Cox
Edited by
Patricia Clavin ,
Giancarlo Corsetti ,
Maurice Obstfeld  and
Adam Tooze
Patricia Clavin
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Giancarlo Corsetti
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Maurice Obstfeld
Affiliation:
Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC
Adam Tooze
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
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Summary

Why didKeynes an exceedingly well connected young man with his feet very well planted in the English establishment,decide to take the risk of writing such an explosive book like The Economic Consequences of the Peace in 1919? After all, others had their doubts about Versailles; butnone went public;and ifor when theydid,it was certainly not to criticizethe peace settlementor the peacemakersin such a vitriolic fashion. SowhatledKeynes to write a book likeThe Economic Consequences of the Peace? What was his purpose in doing so? Who did he think he was writing it for?Was it his last word on the subjector was it – as Keynes believed at the time – merely the first step in a longer struggle to effectively render the economic parts of the Treaty invalid? Finally, why was the volumethe great success it turned out to be at the time, and whyis it still being debated today by both admirers and critics alike?

Keywords

VersaillesGermanyBloomsburyTreasuryWoodrow WilsonJan Christian SmutsLloyd GeorgeGeorgesClemenceau
Type
Chapter
Information
Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years
Polemics and Policy
 , pp. 57 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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