The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
John Maynard Keynes
Book Club
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
8 ways to start a deeper conversation.
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
Why a new theory?
What does Keynes think was wrong with the classical economics he was taught, and why did the Depression expose it?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he call his book a general theory?
- How did you find his tone towards the economists he disagrees with?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
What does Keynes think was wrong with the classical economics he was taught, and why did the Depression expose it?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he call his book a general theory?
- How did you find his tone towards the economists he disagrees with?
What does Keynes mean by effective demand, and why does he think employment depends on it?
Keep the conversation going
- Why can an economy settle at high unemployment with no force pulling it back?
- What does that mean for the idea that markets correct themselves?
How can saving, a virtue for a household, become a problem for a whole economy?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of the idea that one person's spending is another's income?
- Where have you seen this paradox at work?
How does the multiplier work, and why does Keynes think public spending can create more than its own value in employment?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his half-joking suggestion of burying banknotes in old mines for private enterprise to dig up?
- Is wasteful spending better than none in a slump?
Why does Keynes argue that cutting money wages will not cure unemployment?
Keep the conversation going
- What does he think workers actually resist, and why is that not irrational?
- How does this challenge the view that unemployment is caused by wages being too high?
What does Keynes mean by liquidity preference, and why do people want to hold money rather than lend it?
Keep the conversation going
- How does that change the role of the interest rate?
- What can a central bank do, and not do, in a slump?
What does Keynes mean by animal spirits, and how much does he think investment depends on them?
Keep the conversation going
- How did you respond to his comparison of the stock market to a beauty contest?
- Is he right that the market is ruled more by guesses about others' guesses than by real value?
Do you agree with Keynes that practical men who think themselves free of intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of his hope for the euthanasia of the rentier?
- How much of today's economic policy do you think rests on Keynes's ideas?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.