Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren

When John Maynard Keynes wrote his essay Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren 79 years ago, he was thinking about us. In it, he boldly predicted that we would learn how to create a world over the next 20 years that “solved the economic problem.” Keynes was a remarkable visionary. One of the qualities that exemplified his brilliance was his capability to adjust his thinking as appropriate to the changing life conditions in front of him.

Thus, he was not only a towering figure in 20th Century economic thought, but also able to sufficiently distance himself from his own policies to foresee a world and economy wholly different from his own:

“I see us free, therefore, to return to some of the most sure and certain principles of religion and traditional virture-that avarice is a vice, that the exaction of usury is a misdemeanour, and the love of money is detestable, that those walk most truly in the paths of virtue and sane wisdom who take least thought for the morrow. We shall once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful. We shall honour those who can teach us how to pluck the hour and the day virtuously as well, the delightful people who are capable of taking direct enjoyment in things, the lilies of the field who toil not, neither do they spin.”

Robert Skidelsky offers a timely reflection on Keynes’ vision. It’s well worth a read.