When did J. M. Keynes first advocate in print counter-cyclical economic measures by governments?

sequoianoir

The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money in 1936 Nov 17 03, 7:03 PM

bloomsby

Many thanks, but I thought that he had done so already in some of his articles that appeared in the mid 1920s. Nov 17 03, 8:59 PM

gtho4

Is this the one? "A Tract on Monetary Reform", published in 1923 This treatise, written in 1923, by the renowned proponent of deficit spending, is devoted to the need for stable currency as the essential foundation of a healthy world economy. Describing the various effects of unstable currency on investors, business people, and wage earners, Keynes (1883-1946) recommends the implementation of policies that aim at achieving stability of the commodity value of the dollar rather than the gold value. Keynes's brilliant, clear analysis of the world monetary situation at the beginning of the twentieth century, with his many suggestions and his masterful elucidation of economic principles, stands as a vital primer for anyone interested in developing a better understanding of basic economics and its sociopolitical implications. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521220963/keithapplebysres/002-6066214-0798417 (see also below) Nov 18 03, 12:55 AM

gtho4

In 1923, Keynes published his Tract on Monetary Reform (1923), which was his contribution to the Cambridge cash-balance theory of money, then being developed by other Cambridge economists, Alfred Marshall, Arthur C. Pigou and Dennis H. Robertson. It was also in a 1923 newspaper article that he first proposed his "normal backwardation" theory of hedging and speculation. Throughout the 1920s, Keynes remained active in public policy debates, the best of his writings collected in his Essays in Persuasion (1931). He was on the forefront of the battle against returning Britain to the gold standard on a pre-war parity (e.g. 1925). This led him to author two famous pieces in condemnation of laissez-faire economic policy (1925, 1926). In 1929, he wrote an election pamphlet with Hubert D. Henderson advocating the use of public works to reduce unemployment and condemning the Treasury's fear of "budget deficits". http://members.fortunecity.com/varrie/keynes.htm (there's also a bibliography on this webpage which seems more extensive than many others) Nov 18 03, 12:55 AM

bloomsby

Many, many thanks for two very helpful answer, gtho. :) Certainly, his opposition to returning the pound to its pre-WWI parity would seem to me to be at least implicitly "Keynesian". Nov 18 03, 2:59 PM