Ethics and the General Economic Theory

The development of twentieth-century economic science is inseparably linked to the name of John Maynard Keynes. Whatever waves of criticism have descended on Keynesian theory, whatever claims have been made for economic policy actually or evidently connected with Keynes, economic science and socioeconomic reality are what they are today largely because of him. One may, as M. Friedman does, consider Keynesian theory as an important negative result without which the growth of scholarly knowledge would have been impossible. One may talk about Keynes as the destroyer of democratic society who encroached upon its most important value: freedom. One may see Keynes as the savior of this society, one who tried to lead society away from a dangerous edge. All these points of view have the right to exist and, moreover, are not without foundation.