the 20th centurys most influential economist. Not since Alfred Marshall has and economist wielded such influencal power. Keynes was born in a moderately prosperous family of the professional elite. His father was an economist as well as academic administrator of the University of Cambridge. His mother was one of the first female graduates of Cambridge as well. Being on of the privileged few, Keynes studied at Eaton preparatory school, where he excelled at everything from essay composition to club management. In the spring of 1902 he enrolled at Cambridge, where he excelled not only in his studies but also in his extracurricular activities. After graduation, Keynes became a civil servant and worked on pre-WW1 Indian finance and currency. His work is still considered one of the best investigations of its arena. Soon after he returned to a professorship at Cambridge until 1915. Keynes also accompanied former British Prime Minister Lloyd George as an economic advisor to the Versailles Peace Conference. After which he resigned his post as his health deteriorated while contemplating the sever war reparations charged against Germany. He wrote to his father about the impending devastation of Europe. What held Keynes in permanent fame was the Great Depression of the USA in the 1930s. Up to that time the general consensus among economist was that the unemployed would be able o find more job, just at lower wages, and the businessmen would just cut prices to meet demand. This is the type of theory Smith would put out. Traditional economist thought that the invisible hand would take effect and that the equilibrium would be restored to the market. To the surprise of almost everyone the remedy worked nowhere and the Americans needed action now. With the election the F.D.R. the American government turned to Keynes and Keynes supplied the answers. In The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money and Treatise on...
