> >Joan Robinson was aware the Keynes' theory undermined the case for capitalism
> >and saw his work as a stronger critique than Marx's.
>
> I always thought that this was a bit of an exaggeration, and that Keynes
> own assessment of his work - that he aimed to save capitalism not damn
> it - was more accurate. I think the point was that an 'equilibrium'
> account of capitalism was just unsustainable at the time that Keynes was
> writing, and could only be understood as myth-making.
>
In fairness, though, Joan Robinson did not ever say that Keynes was a political revolutionary. It was just that his theory had revolutionary implications. At first, her own version of revolutionary politics was pretty conventional -- just macroeconomic stabilization. Later, she became increasingly sympathetic to Maoism and still felt that Keynes could be a guide.
> >Keynes "blurted out" that
> >probably social control of investment was necessary to deal with the
> >disequilibria he
> >analysed. As far as I know he never followed up on that point. But I
> >doubt it was
> >because he didn't understand its implications. Things improved after
> >WWII; capitalism looked more stable as it rebuilt its productive base.
> >And he
> >wasn't antagonistic to capitalism; he didn't *want* to pursue such a
> >revolutionary thought.
>
> I don't see 'social control of investment' as a 'revolutionary thought'.
> Given that Keynes conception of society was premised upon an
> ostentatious elitism, such 'social control' would have been more
> reactionary in its content than the free market. Tempered by the post-
> war Labour party's limited relation to the masses it became that most
> revolutionary of institutions: the National Coal Board, the Board of
> Trade, the National Economic and Development Council, and British Steel.
> Needless to say, these institutions were wholly indifferent to the
> interests of working people who they exploited and slaughtered at will.
Yes, he was explicit that his socialized investment would be directed by elite people such as himself.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu