Social Philosophy and Economic Policy

Abstract

The last chapter of The General Theory carries the long but diffident title, “Concluding Notes on the Social Philosophy Towards Which The General Theory Might Lead.” Keynes was a political animal throughout his life. He had a continuing association with the Liberal Party, both in its period of ascendency prior to World War I and in its decline after that war. In an interpretation of Keynes’s views on the implications of The General Theory for broader social issues and on the appropriate structure of policies designed to implement the new theory, his writings on politics and social policy prior to The General Theory are relevant. While The General Theory marks a sharp break in economic theory, the “social philosophy” implications he drew from the work are consistent with his earlier views. In fact, The General Theory can be viewed as giving an economic theoretic rationalization for views that Keynes’s ethics and intuition had led him to, even as he was a practicing “classical” economist.