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John Maynard Keynes

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Running head: JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES

Intellectual Biography: John Maynard Keynes
Shawn Detamore
Davenport University

Abstract
Known as one of the most influential economist of the 20th century, John Maynard Keynes changed the economy by his Keynesian Economics. Not only was it used during the Great Depression, it is continually used in our economy today.

Introduction
John Maynard Keynes (also known as “1st Baron Keynes) was a British economist that was born in Cambridge, England. His ideas and theories changed the practice of modern macroeconomics. He is well known for the Keynesian economics that made him one of the most influential economist of the 20th century (Keynes, 2014). Since he was so influential, there were many other economist that were influenced by John Maynard Keynes that supported the Keynesian theory. A few of those economists where: James K. Galbraith, James Tobin, Paul Samuelson and Paul Krugman. Keynes also wrote many books related to economics, one well-known one was the General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. He also wrote A Treatise on Money, The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill, and A Tract on Monetary Reform. Keynes was very influential. In 1999, Time Magazine listed John Maynard Keynes as one of the 100 most important and influential people of the 20th century (Time Magazine, 2014). The Economist also named Keynes as Britain’s most famous 20th-century economist.
Keynesian Economics Keynesian Economics is the theory of total spending and its effects on output and inflation (Blinder, 2008). This theory believes economic decisions are both public and private. The public decisions are based on spending and tax policies while the private decisions are based on policy responses. Keynes advocates for a mixed economy of public and private however with a predominate private sector (Blinder, 2008). The Great Depression was one of the worst economic times that are country faced. With unemployment rates reaching over 25 percent and millions of people losing their life savings, someone had to come up with a theory in order to get the United States out of the depression (Gorman, 2003). Keynes believed the only way out was for the Government to step in. Let’s take a deeper dive into the Keynesian Economics to show how it helped during the depression and how it would help in our world today. Keynes believed that if investments exceeded your savings, then there would be inflation. If your savings exceeded your investment this is when you get a recession. This means that during the depression, we should have been encouraged to spend our money and discouraged from saving it. When a country is in a recession, people tent to spend less money. When people spend less money, it causes a vicious circle. People start to lose jobs and businesses go out of business. This then causes even less spending in the economy. Keynes solution to all of this was for the government to borrow money so they could boost the economy back up by pushing the money they borrowed into the economy. This would allow the economy to recover from the recession, people would start to spend again and then the government would be able to re-pay back these loans (Keynes). Keynes also argued that not only does unemployment happen when people don’t spend money, but that we cannot reach full employment if we cut wages. Keeping wages strong and on the higher end, will help to keep full employment. People will spend more of their money and it won’t cause people to lose their jobs.
As part of the Keynesian theory, Keynes very strongly believed that our government should always play a huge role in the economy. His theory has been debated and criticized but it is still used in our world today.
Current Economic Issues and How Keynes Would Respond During the bailout of many large companies such as AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and the Auto Industry, Keynes would have supported the Government bailing them out. Keynes believed that the government should definitely step in during a crisis and this is exactly what they did. There were also many politicians that adopted the Keynesian model during this financial crisis. These politicians were President George W. Bush and our current president Barack Obama. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also implemented the Keynesian theory (Keynes, 2014). A well-known quote from Keynes is, “The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity.” “If we considered what happened during the Great Depression, we have a bird’s eye view of economic principles and policies at work.” From this quote, our politicians continue to use the Keynesian Economics. Many of our past presidents adapted believing that the answer for economic prosperity is the aggregate demand and buying power. This is what will lift the country out of a recession (Stefano, 2012).
Conclusion
The Keynesian economics is one theory that is continually used throughout the 20th century. John Maynard Keynes come up with this theory during the Great Depression and is now known for being one of the most influential economists of our time. He has written many books and is a great influence to other economist.

References
John Maynard Keynes, Baron of Tilton. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 10:57, Nov 23, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/john-maynard-keynes-9364200.

John Maynard Keynes. (2014). The Famous People website. Retrieved 09:17, Nov 23, 2014, from http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-maynard-keynes-191.php.
Read more at http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-maynard-keynes-191.php#8AIchbeB8fhKeP1d.99

Gorman, T. (2003). The Complete idiot’s Guide to Economics. Retrieved, November 21, 2014, from http://www.infoplease.com/cig/economics/three-economists-their-theories.html

John Maynard Keynes. (2014). Keynesian Economics in a Nutshell. Retrieved, November 20, 2104, from http://www.maynardkeynes.org/maynard-keynes-economics.html

People of the Century. (2014). Time Magazine. Retrieved, November 23, 2014 from http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2020772,00.html

Alan S. Blinder. "Keynesian Economics." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved November 23, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/KeynesianEconomics.html

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