ABSTRACT
John Maynard Keynes’s The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is the first academic text to systematically detail a role for governments in managing economic downturns and crises. It marked a turning point in the field of economics—away from a strong belief in the efficiency of free markets, toward a greater belief in proactive government policies, demand management and even central economic planning. The General Theory was published in 1936 amid the Great Depression, the most severe economic downturn of the twentieth century. The crisis began with a stock market crash known as the Wall Street Crash in September 1929, and was aggravated by the breakdown of the American and international banking systems soon afterward. It caused drastic reductions in output (production), employment, and political stability during the 1930s. The General Theory defended the existing capitalist order in the face of communist critiques.
