John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes was a British economist. An economist is a person who studies how money, jobs, trade, and production work in a society. Keynes was born in 1883 in Cambridge, England. He lived during a time of great change, including World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. His ideas influenced how many governments thought about their economies.

Keynes studied at the University of Cambridge, where he learned mathematics and economics. He later became a teacher there. Early in his career, he worked for the British government. During World War I, he helped advise the government on financial matters. After the war, he took part in discussions about peace treaties, including the Treaty of Versailles. He later wrote that the economic decisions made after the war could cause serious problems.

Keynes became widely known during the 1930s. This was the time of the Great Depression, a long period when many people were out of work and businesses failed. Many countries faced falling production and low spending. Keynes argued that these problems could last a long time if nothing was done. He believed that markets did not always fix themselves quickly.

One of Keynes’s main ideas was about government spending. Spending means the money that people, businesses, or governments use to buy goods and services. Keynes said that when people stop spending, governments can step in. They can spend money on projects such as roads, schools, or public buildings. This can help create jobs and increase demand, which means the need for goods and services.

In 1936, Keynes published his most famous book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. In this book, he explained his ideas in detail. He focused on employment, which means having jobs, and demand, which means how much people want to buy. His work suggested that governments could use taxes and spending to guide the economy. These ideas later became known as Keynesian economics.

John Maynard Keynes died in 1946. After his death, his ideas continued to influence economic policy in many countries. Governments used his ideas when planning budgets and responding to economic slowdowns. His work remains an important part of modern economic thought.