John Maynard Keynes Economic Consequences Of The Peace

The document, a book titled ‘The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1920’ was published by writer and English economist, John Maynard Keynes. The title of the book itself briefly indicates the topic that Keynes had decided to write about in great detail and provides the reader with a general understanding of the topic which Keynes covers in his book. Keynes covers a broad range of points in this book, with the text briefly outlining points such as an explanation about his views and opinions on Treaty of Versailles and the effects and consequences that this would have on the economy. In addition to this, Keynes shares his views about reparations, forgiveness of war debts and his concerns about the conditions that were set at the Versailles
The first sentence of the text, ‘This chapter must be one of pessimism’, immediately demonstrates the views that Keynes possesses in regards to the topic that he will be referring to in this specific chapter, emphasising his views in relation to the economic consequences of the Peace conference. As briefly mentioned in this document, it is suggested throughout the text that Keynes was not in favour of such a high figure for reparations as he believed that this decision would affect the economy of countries all over Europe. However, he also displayed his ideas and views about the possible effects that this decision would have on the ‘economic future of the States’ adding that the ‘Council of Four’ had failed to recognise they were ‘handling’ the ‘destiny’ of. As Keynes writes, that the President, Wilson, did ‘nothing’, can also be seen as a reference to the fact that Wilson had refused the proposal that Keynes had presented on the forgiveness of war debts and did not let Keynes present his views on the credit
Here, we are able to see an economist’s real analysis and thoughts into the possible issues that Keynes was extremely concerned about. Keynes writes about how the majority of the population had ‘secured… a livelihood before the war’ through an ‘immensely complicated organization, of which the foundations were supported by coal, iron, transport… and an unbroken supply of imported food and raw materials’. From this passage in the text, it can be identified that Keynes had extensively researched about the possible effects on the economy as well as displaying his concerns about the effect that this would have on a significant proportion of European people. He believed that the treaty would result in a ‘destruction of this organization’ leading to a ‘part of this population’ being ‘deprived of its means of livelihood’. This detail allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding about the views that Keynes had hoped would have been taken into consideration during the Paris Peace Conference. It also allows the reader to understand more about the economic concerns and possible effects of the treaty as well as demonstrating how this document can be seen as a historical source. The document is useful for a historian in many ways such as gaining some