ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why John Maynard Keynes’s evolving policy vision for a radically new economic system for Britain in the post-WWI era is appropriately described by him as “Liberal Socialism” rather than as “reformed capitalism.” It presents a brief overview of Keynes’s critique of classical theory, the dominant theory in Britain and in the USA prior to the Keynesian “revolution” that was used to justify a laissez-faire policy regime. The chapter argues that important aspects of Keynes’s critique of classical theory apply with equal force to post-WWII Mainstream Keynesian theory. It examines Keynes’s preferred economic policies with those of Mainstream Keynesianism. The chapter outlines Keynes’s radical policy program designed to achieve sustained full employment and domestic prosperity. Keynes’s economic policy agenda was designed to create a liberal and democratic variant of a government-guided socialist economy. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
