A Challenge to Mainstream Economics

Money and Government

'In this remarkable work, Robert Skidelsky unites his experience, knowledge and talents in a sweeping account of money and power' James K. Galbraith 
 
The dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only a minor role in economic life. Money, it is claimed, is nothing more than a medium of exchange; and economic outcomes are best left to the 'invisible hand' of the market. The view taken in this important new book is that the omnipresence of uncertainty make money and government essential features of any market economy. One reason we need money is because we don't know what the future will bring. Government - good government - makes the future more predictable and therefore reduces this kind of demand for money. 
 
After Adam Smith orthodoxy persistently espoused non-intervention, but the Great Depression of 1929-32 stopped the artificers of orthodox economics in their tracks. A precarious balance of forces between government, employers, and trade unions enabled Keynesian economics to emerge as the new policy paradigm of the Western world. However, the stagflation of the 1970s led to the rejection of Keynesian policy and a return to small-state neoclassical orthodoxy. Thirty years later, the 2008 global financial crash was severe enough to have shaken the re-vamped classical orthodoxy, but, curiously, this did not happen. Once the crisis had been overcome - by Keynesian measures taken in desperation - the pre-crash orthodoxy was reinstated, undermined but unbowed. Since 2008, no new 'big idea' has emerged, and orthodoxy has maintained its sway, enacting punishing austerity agendas that leave us with a still-anaemic global economy. 
 
This book aims to familiarise the reader with essential elements of Keynes's 'big idea'. By showing that much of economic orthodoxy is far from being the hard science it claims to be, it aims to embolden the next generation of economists to break free from their conceptual prisons and afford money and government the starring roles in the economic drama that they deserve.

Skidelsky, historian and biographer of Keynes, is a major figure in the revival of Keynesian thought since the financial crisis. His aim in this ambitious new book is to argue that pervasive uncertainty, which Keynes emphasised in his seminal theory of the 1930s, explains why money and governments must be central players in any market economy.

Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. He was made a life peer in 1991, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994.

The dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only a minor role in economic life. Money, it is claimed, is more than a medium of exchange; and economic outcomes are best left to the 'invisible hand' of the market. Tracing the establishment of this orthodoxy and the challenges posed to it since the Great Depression of 1929-32, Robert Skidelsky shows how - unlike then - the 2008 global financial has not led to any new policy paradigm. Once the crisis had been overcome - by Keynesian measures taken in desperation - the pre-crash orthodoxy was reinstated, undermined but unbowed. No new 'big idea' has emerged, and orthodoxy has maintained its sway, enacting punishing austerity agendas that leave us with a still-anaemic global economy. 
 
This book aims to familiarise the reader with essential elements of Keynes's 'big idea'. By showing that much of economic orthodoxy is far from being the hard science it claims to be, it aims to embolden the next generation of economists to break free from their conceptual prisons and afford money and government the starring roles in the economic drama that they deserve.

Britain Since 1900 - A Success Story?

How successul has Britain been in the twentieth century? 
 
Robert Skidelsky debates this question in this fascinating analysis of a turbulent century which has changed Britain beyond recognition.

A stimulating account of Britain since 1900

Bernard Donoughue, author of Downing Street Diary

Required reading for anyone with an interest in modern history, it must surely go on to all the best reading lists

Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Ecomony at Warwick University. His three-volume biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes (1983,1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. He is the author of The World after Communism (1995) and Keynes: The Return of the Master (2009). He was made a life peer in 1991, is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs, and was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1994.

How successful has Britain been in the twentieth century? 
 
This is the question Robert Skidelsky poses in this fascinating analysis of a century in which Britain lost an empire, fought two world wars, founded the welfare state and weathered economic turbulence and technological upheaval. 
 
We are accustomed to judging nations by their success in increasing or maintaining power - by these measures Britain has failed to thrive, but what of quality of life, prosperity, political, cultural and moral values? 
 
The British people are richer and healthier than in 1900. Despite cataclysmic events and some fraying at the edges, our society is more democratic and tolerant, and our constitution of liberty has been preserved, at a cost. Bu inequality of wealth income is much as it was before 1914, finance is scarcely less proud or industry more content, and history continues to be made by the elite. 
 
Starting with an assessment of the material, political, cultural and moral resources Britain brought to the twentieth century, Skidelsky turns to how events and the actions of Lloyd George, Churchill, Thatcher and Blair had an impact upon them, debating the nature of success, and what the future might hold for the country.

Money and the Good Life

How Much is Enough?

In 1930 the great economist Keynes predicted that, over the next century, income would rise steadily, people's basic needs would be met and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week. Why was he wrong? 
 
Robert and Edward Skidelsky argue that wealth is not - or should not be - an end in itself, but a means to 'the good life'. Tracing the concept from Aristotle to the present, they show how far modern life has strayed from that ideal. They reject the idea that there is any single measure of human progress, whether GDP or 'happiness', and instead describe the seven elements which, they argue, make up the good life, and the policies that could realize them. 
 
ROBERT SKIDELSKY is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His biography of Keynes received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. He was made a life peer in 1991, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994. 
 
EDWARD SKIDELSKY is a lecturer in the Philosophy Department of the University of Exeter. He contributes regularly to the New Statesman, Spectator and Prospect. His previous books include The Conditions of Goodness and Ernst Cassirer: The Last Philosopher of Culture.

"How much is enough?" is a good question. Anyone who sets store by capitalism and markets will find [this] book uncomfortable reading.  It should be read all the same

A truly innovative and radical perspective on reshaping the economy ... thought-stirring and extremely refreshing

A welcome call to reinvigorate society's ethical aspect and bring about the good life for everyone

In their thoughtful book, the Skidelskys move seamlessly from the abstract to the concrete; from philosophy to public policy. They note that Keynes's futuristic essay was ignored as the world sank into the Great Depression. Will we again ignore this call to imagine a better future?

Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. He was made a life peer in 1991, and aFellow of the British Academy in 1994. 
 
Edward Skidelsky is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Exeter. He is author of Ernst Cassirer: The Last Philosopher of Culture and contributes regularly to the New Statesman and Prospect. He is currently working on a book entitled The Language of the Virtues.

1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman

John Maynard Keynes

THE DEFINITIVE SINGLE-VOLUME BIOGRAPHY 
 
Robert Skidelsky's three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes has been acclaimed as the authoritative account of the great economist-statesman's life. Here, Skidelsky has revised and abridged his magnum opus into one definitive book, which examines in its entirety the intellectual and ideological journey that led an extraordinarily gifted young man to concern himself with the practical problems of an age overshadowed by war. John Maynard Keynes offers a sympathetic account of the life of a passionate visionary and an invaluable insight into the economic philosophy that still remains at the centre of political and economic thought. 
 
ROBERT SKIDELSKY is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. ('This three-volume life of the British economist should be given a Nobel Prize for History if there was such a thing' - Norman Stone.) He was made a life peer in 1991, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994. 
 
'A masterpiece of biographical and historical analysis' - New York Times

A masterpiece of biographical and historical analysis

Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations.  ('This three-volume life of the British economist should be given a Nobel Prize for History if there was such a thing' - Norman Stone.) He was made a life peer in 1991, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994.

Robert Skidelsky's three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes has been acclaimed as the authoritative account of the great economist-statesman's life. Here, Skidelsky has revised and abridged his magnum opus into one definitive book, which examines in its entirety the intellectual and ideological journey that led an extraordinarily gifted young man to concern himself with the practical problems of an age overshadowed by war. John Maynard Keynes offers a sympathetic account of the life of a passionate visionary and an invaluable insight into the economic philosophy that still remains at the centre of political and economic thought.

The Return of the Master

Keynes

Robert Skidelsky's Keynes: The Return of the Master shows how the great economist's ideas not only explain why the current financial crisis occurred - but are our best way out. 
 
 'One would expect brokers to be wrong. If, in addition to their other inside advantages, they were capable of good advice, clearly they would have retired long ago with a large fortune' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;John Maynard Keynes 
 
 When unbridled capitalism falters, is there an alternative? The twentieth century's most influential economist tells us that there is. John Maynard Keynes argued that an unmanaged market system is inherently unstable because of irreduceable uncertainty; that fiscal and monetary ammunition is needed to counter economic shocks; and that governments need to maintain enough total spending power in the economy to minimize the chance of serious recessions happening. 
 
 'The great economist's theories have never been more relevant ... and Robert Skidelsky is the guide of choice ... A must read' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Paul Krugman, Observer 
 
 'Keynes's economic policies helped lift Britain from its 1930s slump. This accessible, timely study argues he could do the same again' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times 
 
 'Masterly ... conveys complex ideas with clarity and controlled anger' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oliver Kamm, The Times 
 
 'Skidelsky knows more about Keynes than anyone alive ... he is righteous in his thunder ... provocative ... refreshing' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Dwight Gardner, The New York Times 
 
 'Thought-provoking ... the best account I have read of the development of the credit crunch' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Samuel Brittan, Financial Times 
 
 Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. He is also the author of the The World After Communism (1995).

Robert Skidelsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His three volume biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes (1983, 1992, 2000) received numerous prizes, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Prize for International Relations. ('This three-volume life of the British economist should be given a Nobel Prize for History if there was such a thing' - Norman Stone.) He is the author of the The World After Communism (1995). He was made a life peer in 1991, and was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1994.

In the current financial crisis Keynes has been taken out of his cupboard, dusted down, consulted, cited, invoked and appealed to about why events have taken the course they have and how a rescue operation can be effected. Why have we gone back so emphatically to the ideas of an economist who died fifty years ago? 
 
There are three main ideas of Keynes's worth thinking about now. The first is that the future is unknowable, and therefore that economic storms are part of the normal workings of the market system. The second idea is that economies wounded by these 'shocks' can, if left to themselves, stay in a depressed condition for a long time. That is why governments need to have and use fiscal ammunition to prevent a slide from financial crisis to economic depression. The third concerns what he termed 'organicism': societies are communities not, as he put it, 'branches of the multiplication table'. These ideas have never been more timely.

Robert Skidelsky

The Machine Age

Select a format:

Pre-order:

More books from this author