The Price of Peace [eBook - NC Digital Library] : Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An “outstanding new intellectual biography of John Maynard Keynes [that moves] swiftly along currents of lucidity and wit” ( The New York Times ), illuminating the world of the influential economist and his transformative ideas “A timely, lucid and compelling portrait of a man whose enduring relevance is always heightened when crisis strikes.”— The Wall Street Journal WINNER: The Arthur Ross Book Award Gold Medal • The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism FINALIST: The National Book Critics Circle Award • The Sabew Best in Business Book Award NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times • The Economist • Bloomberg • Mother Jones At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat. The terror and anxiety unleashed by the war would transform him from a comfortable obscurity into the most influential and controversial intellectual of his day—a man whose ideas still retain the power to shock in our own time. Keynes was not only an economist but the preeminent anti-authoritarian thinker of the twentieth century, one who devoted his life to the belief that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. As a moral philosopher, political theorist, and statesman, Keynes led an extraordinary life that took him from intimate turn-of-the-century parties in London’s riotous Bloomsbury art scene to the fevered negotiations in Paris that shaped the Treaty of Versailles, from stock market crashes on two continents to diplomatic breakthroughs in the mountains of New Hampshire to wartime ballet openings at London’s extravagant Covent Garden. Along the way, Keynes reinvented Enlightenment liberalism to meet the harrowing crises of the twentieth century. In the United States, his ideas became the foundation of a burgeoning economics profession, but they also became a flash point in the broader political struggle of the Cold War, as Keynesian acolytes faced off against conservatives in an intellectual battle for the future of the country—and the world. Though many Keynesian ideas survived the struggle, much of the project to which he devoted his life was lost. In this riveting biography, veteran journalist Zachary D. Carter unearths the lost legacy of one of history’s most fascinating minds. The Price of Peace revives a forgotten set of ideas about democracy, money, and the good life with transformative implications for today’s debates over inequality and the power politics that shape the global order. LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An "outstanding new intellectual biography of John Maynard Keynes [that moves] swiftly along currents of lucidity and wit" ( The New York Times ), illuminating the world of the influential economist and his transformative ideas "A timely, lucid and compelling portrait of a man whose enduring relevance is always heightened when crisis strikes."#8212; The Wall Street Journal At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law's motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat. The terror and anxiety unleashed by the war would transform him from a comfortable obscurity into the most influential and controversial intellectual of his day#8212;a man whose ideas still retain the power to shock in our own time. Keynes was not only an economist but the preeminent anti-authoritarian thinker of the twentieth century, one who devoted his life to the belief that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. As a moral philosopher, political theorist, and statesman, Keynes led an extraordinary life that took him from intimate turn-of-the-century parties in London's riotous Bloomsbury art scene to the fevered negotiations in Paris that shaped the Treaty of Versailles, from stock market crashes on two continents to diplomatic breakthroughs in the mountains of New Hampshire to wartime ballet openings at London's extravagant Covent Garden. Along the way, Keynes reinvented Enlightenment liberalism to meet the harrowing crises of the twentieth century. In the United States, his ideas became the foundation of a burgeoning economics profession, but they also became a flash point in the broader political struggle of the Cold War, as Keynesian acolytes faced off against conservatives in an intellectual battle for the future of the country#8212;and the world. Though many Keynesian ideas survived the struggle, much of the project to which he devoted his life was lost. In this riveting biography, veteran journalist Zachary D. Carter unearths the lost legacy of one of history's most fascinating minds. The Price of Peace revives a forgotten set of ideas about democracy, money, and the good life with transformative implications for today's debates over inequality and the power politics that shape the global order A page-turning biography of world-changing economist John Maynard Keynes and the big ideas that outlived him. In the spring of 1934, Virginia Woolf sketched an affectionate biographical portrait of her great friend John Maynard Keynes. Writing a full two years before Keynes would revolutionize the economics world with the publication of The General Theory , Woolf nevertheless found herself unable to condense her friend's already-extraordinary life into anything less than twenty-five themes, which she jotted down at the opening of her homage: "Politics. Art. Dancing. Letters. Economics. Youth. The Future. Glands. Genealogies. Atlantis. Mortality. Religion. Cambridge. Eton. The Drama. Society. Truth. Pigs. Sussex. The History of England. America. Optimism. Stammer. Old Books. Hume." Keynes was not only an economist, as he is remembered today, but the preeminent anti-authoritarian thinker of the twentieth century, a man who devoted his life to the belief that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. A moral philosopher, political theorist, and statesman, Keynes immersed himself in a creative milieu filled with ballerinas and literary icons as he developed his own innovative and at times radical thought, reinventing Enlightenment liberalism for the harrowing crises of his day--which included two world wars and an economic collapse that challenged the legitimacy of democratic government itself. The Price of Peace follows Keynes from intimate turn-of-the-century parties in London's riotous Bloomsbury art scene to the fevered negotiations in Paris that shaped the Treaty of Versailles, through stock market crashes and currency crises to diplomatic breakthroughs in the mountains of New Hampshire and wartime ballet openings at Covent Garden. In this riveting biography, veteran journalist Zachary D. Carter unearths the lost legacy of one of history's most important minds. John Maynard Keynes's vibrant, deeply human vision of democracy, art, and the good life has been obscured by technical debates, but in The Price of Peace , Carter revives a forgotten set of ideas with the power to reinvent national government and reframe the principles of international diplomacy in our own time. "In the spring of 1934, Virginia Woolf sketched an affectionate three-page "biographical fantasy" of her great friend, John Maynard Keynes, attempting to encompass no less than 25 themes, which she jotted down at its opening: "Politics. Art. Dancing. Letters. Economics. Youth. The Future. Glands. Genealogies. Atlantis. Mortality. Religion. Cambridge. Eton. The Drama. Society. Truth. Pigs. Sussex. The History of England. America. Optimism. Stammer. Old Books. Hume." In truth, his life contained even more. Years earlier, as a young Cambridge philosopher and economist, Keynes spent his days moving between government service and academia, and when he was called up to the Treasury on the eve of World War I, he relished an opportunity to save the empire. He worked dutifully, but as the aftermath of the war and the disastrous Versailles Treaty unfolded, with its harsh demands for German reparations, Keynes saw how the strain on its citizens might encourage would-be authoritarians. The experience began a career that spanned two world wars and a global depression and which often found him in a Cassandra-like position, arguing against widely accepted ideas that he saw as outdated or dangerous. His influential ideas made it to America and FDR's New Deal in the Great Depression, and through his books, especially The General Theory, he became a founding giant in the economics profession. Even as his star rose, however, the most important allegiance of Keynes's life was to writers and artists. He valued his membership in the iconic Bloomsbury Group above any position, and he forever envied the talents of his friends like Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey, often providing them with much needed financial support as the most gainfully employed member of the group. In return, they gave him a moral compass and inspired his vision of what society should be"--Publisher's description "In the spring of 1934, Virginia Woolf sketched an affectionate three-page "biographical fantasy" of her great friend, John Maynard Keynes, attempting to encompass no less than 25 themes, which she jotted down at its opening: "Politics. Art. Dancing. Letters. Economics. Youth. The Future. Glands. Genealogies. Atlantis. Mortality. Religion. Cambridge. Eton. The Drama. Society. Truth. Pigs. Sussex. The History of England. America. Optimism. Stammer. Old Books. Hume." In truth, his life contained even more. Years earlier, as a young Cambridge philosopher and economist, Keynes spent his days moving between government service and academia, and when he was called up to the Treasury on the eve of World War I, he relished an opportunity to save the empire. He worked dutifully, but as the aftermath of the war and the disastrous Versailles Treaty unfolded, with its harsh demands for German reparations, Keynes saw how the strain on its citizens might encourage would-be authoritarians. The experience began a career that spanned two world wars and a global depression and which often found him in a Cassandra-like position, arguing against widely accepted ideas that he saw as outdated or dangerous. His influential ideas made it to America and FDR's New Deal in the Great Depression, and through his books, especially The General Theory, he became a founding giant in the economics profession. Even as his star rose, however, the most important allegiance of Keynes's life was to writers and artists. He valued his membership in the iconic Bloomsbury Group above any position, and he forever envied the talents of his friends like Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey, often providing them with much needed financial support as the most gainfully employed member of the group. In return, they gave him a moral compass and inspired his vision of what society should be"-- Provided by publisher At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law?s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat. The terror and anxiety unleashed by the war would transform him from a comfortable obscurity into the most influential and controversial intellectual of his day?a man whose ideas still retain the power to shock in our own time.00Keynes was not only an economist but the preeminent anti-authoritarian thinker of the twentieth century, one who devoted his life to the belief that art and ideas could conquer war and deprivation. As a moral philosopher, political theorist, and statesman, Keynes led an extraordinary life that took him from intimate turn-of-the-century parties in London?s riotous Bloomsbury art scene to the fevered negotiations in Paris that shaped the Treaty of Versailles, from stock market crashes on two continents to diplomatic breakthroughs in the mountains of New Hampshire to wartime ballet openings at London?s extravagant Covent Garden. 00Along the way, Keynes reinvented Enlightenment liberalism to meet the harrowing crises of the twentieth century. In the United States, his ideas became the foundation of a burgeoning economics profession, but they also became a flash point in the broader political struggle of the Cold War, as Keynesian acolytes faced off against conservatives in an intellectual battle for the future of the country?and the world. Though many Keynesian ideas survived the struggle, much of the project to which he devoted his life was lost. 0 Title Page Copyright Contents Epigraph Introduction Chapter One: After the Gold Rush Chapter Two: Blood Money Chapter Three: Paris and Its Discontents Chapter Four: Consequences Chapter Five: From Metaphysics to Money Chapter Six: Prolegomena to a New Socialism Chapter Seven: The Great Crash Chapter Eight: Phoenix Chapter Nine: The End of Scarcity Chapter Ten: Came the Revolution Chapter Eleven: War and Counterrevolution Chapter Twelve: Martyr to the Good Life Chapter Thirteen: The Aristocracy Strikes Back Chapter Fourteen: The Affluent Society and Its Enemies Chapter Fifteen: The Beginning of the End Chapter Sixteen: The Return of the Nineteenth Century Chapter Seventeen: The Second Gilded Age Conclusion Dedication Acknowledgments Photo Insert Notes Selected Bibliography About the Author