Keynes on the war economy
Keynes was hardly a radical, but think of how far we are from Keynes' proposal today! Keynes, John Maynard. 1940, United States and the Keynes Plan. The New Republic (29 July); reprinted in CW, 22, pp. 144-55. 145: at the end of the war it is the profit-earning class which owns, in the shape of holdings in the national war debt, a claim on future production; which the wage-earning class, in spite of the extra work downs, owns nothing, having lost the right to consume now and having gained no rights to consumer hereafter. 144-5: He proposes a deferred pay, so that people will have something to show for their efforts after the war. 147: This deferred consumption can mitigate the possibility of a postwar depression. 149: It seems politically impossible for a capitalist democracy to organize expenditure on the scale necessary to make the grand experiment which would prove my case -- except in war conditions. 150-1: The massive German war preparation shows how much unused capacity a market economy has. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
Re: Keynes on the war economy
didn't a milder version of this plan actually happen? in the US, during WW2 workers accumulated more war bonds than ever before, so for many it wasn't true that they owned nothing. This helped moderate the post-war recession. Then, based on their political power, they were able to get the GI Bill (help with education, housing), which helped create the prosperity of the 1950s, along with the warfare state, the building of freeways, etc. Jim -Original Message- From: michael [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tue 11/18/2003 8:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Subject: [PEN-L] Keynes on the war economy Keynes was hardly a radical, but think of how far we are from Keynes' proposal today! Keynes, John Maynard. 1940, United States and the Keynes Plan. The New Republic (29 July); reprinted in CW, 22, pp. 144-55. 145: at the end of the war it is the profit-earning class which owns, in the shape of holdings in the national war debt, a claim on future production; which the wage-earning class, in spite of the extra work downs, owns nothing, having lost the right to consume now and having gained no rights to consumer hereafter. 144-5: He proposes a deferred pay, so that people will have something to show for their efforts after the war. 147: This deferred consumption can mitigate the possibility of a postwar depression. 149: It seems politically impossible for a capitalist democracy to organize expenditure on the scale necessary to make the grand experiment which would prove my case -- except in war conditions. 150-1: The massive German war preparation shows how much unused capacity a market economy has. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
Re: Keynes on the war economy
Savings bonds were intended to curtail spending. In school we were supposed to collect our coins, put them in cards, and then purchase bonds. On Tue, Nov 18, 2003 at 09:06:46PM -0800, Devine, James wrote: didn't a milder version of this plan actually happen? in the US, during WW2 workers accumulated more war bonds than ever before, so for many it wasn't true that they owned nothing. This helped moderate the post-war recession. Then, based on their political power, they were able to get the GI Bill (help with education, housing), which helped create the prosperity of the 1950s, along with the warfare state, the building of freeways, etc. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
