Essays in Persuasion (Paperback)

by John Maynard Keynes (Author) "THE power to become habituated to his surroundings is a marked characteristic of mankind..." (more)
Key Phrases: intensifying unemployment, internal price level, other new religions, Bank of England, Great Britain, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Essays In Persuasion written by legendary author John Maynard Keynes is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Essays In Persuasion is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless piees of classic literature, this gem by John Maynard Keynes is highly recommended. Published by Classic House Books and beautifully produced, Essays In Persuasion would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393001903
• ISBN-13: 978-0393001907
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite mandarin prose and clear argument, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

John Maynard Keynes at his most beguiling. A series of essays that have not lost their power despite the passage of 70 years or so. As a prose stylist Maynard Keynes could equal his friends Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, and he does so in this volume. Perhaps the apogee of essay writing of the Oxford/Cambridge type, this volume has a charm that is absent from his longer works (General Theory, Tract on Monetary Reform, even the Economic Consequences of the Peace). For those people interested in hard edged macro theory, read elsewhere. For admirers of logic and clarity and the British tradition of enlightened common sense, Eureka! You have found it in this book.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nectar and Ambrosia for the Liberal Economist, December 13, 2003

By	Andrei Scudder "drinkinggas" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

To the interested layperson John Mayanrd Keynes is known as a villain/genius responsible for the theory of governmental deficit spending in a time of economic crises. This book in a concise and understandable manner, without recourse to ponderous mathematical formulas, makes a very convincing case for the necessity of governmental intervention.
When people are unwilling to spend and are hoarding cash, it is up to government to inject money into the system by means of expansionary monetary policy, either it is public works in the most dramatic case or reduced interest rates, intended to stimulate investment in a more commonplace scenario.
Fiscal prudence or austerity will not lift the economy out of the slump, for a very simple reason; if everyone is saving and no one is buying, then no one is able to sell and economy is pushed further into a recession.
Villilfied by countless conservatives as an endorsement of governmental intervention and subsequent domination of the people, the ideas proposed in the book are accepted by such respected institutions as the Federal Reserve and merit attention of a person, who would like to claim general economic awareness.
Apart from the the discussion on public spending, there are highly informative essays on German hyperinflation of the 1920s, ruminations on Gold standard and much more; all presented with great clarity and humor, that few if any economists have mangaged to imitate.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When conservatives could still face socialism eye-to-eye., January 12, 2001

By	C. E. R. Mendonça "Carlos Eduardo Rebello de ... (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Writing during the nineteen twenties and thirties, when the specter of socialism didn't yet haunt the Anglo-Saxon ruling elites, Keynes didn't feel his duty to sing eulogies to the free market; on the contrary, he felt his duty as an economist to propose ways through which modern society could supersede the "centrality of the money motive". The essays devoted to problems of politics in this collection, specially "A short view of Russia", "Economic perspectives for our grandchildren" and "Am I a Liberal?" are among the best things written from the liberal-conservative viewpoint on the ideological choices of our age. A must-read.