John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946)

John Maynard Keynes is unquestionably the major figure in 20th century economics and perhaps the only one who can stand next to Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Alfred Marshall and Leon Walras in the economists’ Hall of Fame.

This volume comprises the most important articles and papers published on Keynes since 1981. It includes over 60 articles that are not available in any other similar collection.

The literature on Keynes has accelerated in the last decade and its focus of attention has altered out of all recognition compared to the commentaries of the half century 1931–1981. The picture of Keynes that emerges from the most recent literature is a fundamentalist one, meaning a Keynes who rejected all the basic postulates of orthodox economics, rationality, maximizing behaviour, perfect foresight etc even against his own better judgement. It suggests that there is a constant thread of doubt and scepticism about the very possibility of rational economic calculation running through all Keynes’s writings from the very beginning. A coherent philosophical vision coloured absolutely every word that Keynes ever wrote, a vision that declared war against all manifestations of positivism and empiricism.

This set will be an essential source of reference for all economists with an interest in the work of J.M. Keynes and the development of modern macroeconomics.

Contents:
1. O. Popescu (1964), 'On the Historiography of Economic Thought: A Bibliographical Survey'
2. D.F. Gordon (1965), 'The Role of the History of Economic Thought in Understanding Modern Economic Theory'
3. F.W. Fetter (1965), 'The Relation of the History of Economic Thought to Economic History'
4. A.F. Chalk (1967), 'Relativist and Absolutist Approaches to the History of Economic Theory'
5. J.J. Spengler (1968), 'Economics: Its History, Themes, Approaches'
6. K.E. Boulding (1971), 'After Samuelson Who Needs Adam Smith?'
7. W.J. Samuels (1974), 'The History of Economic Thought as Intellectual History'
8. B.A. Corry (1975), 'Should Economists Abandon HOPE?'
9. R.L. Heilbroner (1979), 'Modern Economics as a Chapter in the History of Economic Thought'
10. C.D. Goodwin (1980), 'Towards a Theory of the History of Economics'
11. F. Cesarano (1983), 'On the Role of the History of Economic Analysis'
12. G.M. Anderson and R.D. Tollison, ‘Dead Men Don’t Tell No Tales’
13. P.A. Samuelson (1987), 'Out of the Closet: A Program for the Whig History of Economic Science'
14. M. Perlman (1986), 'Perceptions of our Discipline: Three Magisterial Treatments of the Evolution of Economic Thought'
Name Index