Essays In Persuasion

Outline

Essays In Persuasion (1931) collects John Maynard Keynes’s writings on the major economic questions of his time, including the costs of war reparations, the gold standard, inflation, and unemployment. It also includes his famous essay Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, which imagined a future of abundance and shorter working hours. The book shows Keynes as a clear, witty, and persuasive public thinker.

• The book collects Keynes's writings on the big economic questions of his time, from war reparations to the gold standard.
• Keynes examines inflation and unemployment as real problems that call for public attention and thoughtful policy.
• His essay Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren imagines a future of abundance and much shorter working hours.
• Keynes writes as a public thinker who aims to persuade ordinary readers, using clear, witty prose rather than technical jargon.

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was a British economist whose ideas transformed economic thinking and government policy in the twentieth century. He argued that governments should act to reduce unemployment during downturns and helped design the international monetary system after the Second World War. His works include The Economic Consequences of the Peace and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.