The Means to Prosperity.

KEYNES, John Maynard [J.M.].

$125.00

Item Number: 135403

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1933.

First edition of the enlarged version of four of Keynes’ articles printed in The Times in March 1933, making his case for counter-cyclical public spending. Octavo, original wrappers. Library stamp.

At the height of the Great Depression, in 1933, Keynes published The Means to Prosperity, which contained specific policy recommendations for tackling unemployment in a global recession, chiefly counter-cyclical public spending. The Means to Prosperity contains one of the first mentions of the multiplier effect. While it was addressed chiefly to the British Government, it also contained advice for other nations affected by the global recession. A copy was sent to the newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other world leaders. The work was taken seriously by both the American and British governments, and according to Robert Skidelsky, helped pave the way for the later acceptance of Keynesian ideas, though it had little immediate practical influence. In the 1933 London Economic Conference opinions remained too diverse for a unified course of action to be agreed upon.