The fight of a 'citizen economist' for peace and prosperity: Keynes and the issues of international security

International audienceJohn Maynard Keynes was a citizen economist, anxious to defend a capitalist system threatened by the rise of totalitarianism during the inter‐war period. His criticism of the Versailles treaty in 1919 was supported by the idea of a link between economic prosperity and international peace. During the crisis of the 1930s, he advocated using the League of Nations for a peaceful settlement of international conflicts; while being in favour of economic interventionism, he criticised mercantilist policies. He recognised that military expenditure may be used as a reflationary policy, but after 1945 his theory was misused to promote the development of a ‘defence‐based’ economic policy