"Essays in Persuasion"

Paper Summary:

Keynes saw the role of the economist as an advisor on centralized government economic policies. This paper shows how, in "Essays in Persuasion", Keynes argues that Europeans of the time had a tendency to believe that the world they lived in was immutable and unchangeable and that this belief resulted in a certain blindness to the economic realities of the time. As such, Keynes argued that the role of the economist in such a society was to advise the government on public policy decisions. The paper shows how economists, such as John Buchanan, linked themselves to the Keynesian school of thought, while others, such as von Hayek, have moved away from Keynes's active role in the political sphere.

From the Paper:

"Keynes' accuracy in economic forecasting lends some credence to his thought that economists may be useful in the political arena. Specifically, in Essays in Persuasion, Keynes is remarkable in his ability to forecast political and economic events. He warns of the economic troubles the affected Europe and the United States will encounter after reparations against Germany in WWI. Notes Keynes, ""If the European Civil War is to end with France and Italy abusing their momentary victorious power to destroy Germany and Austria-Hungary now prostrate, they invite their own destruction also, being so deeply and inextricably intertwined with their victims by hidden psychic and economic bonds"."

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