Keynes, John Maynard - The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money - First Edition, First DJ

KEYNES John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. 8vo (220 x 145mm). [2], xii, 403, [1] pp. London, Macmillan and Co., Limited. 1936

Original dark blue cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, ruling continued to boards in blind, the rare dust jacket is unclipped, notably clean and smooth with slight fraying at the top, with tiny losses. An exceptionally clean and fine volume itself in virtually perfect condition.

The General Theory was written in the aftermath of the Great Depression, when the old economic order was widely seen to have failed. Keynes argued that government must intervene in the economy, directing wages, investment, and demand, in order to achieve full employment and end the boom and bust cycle. In so doing, a middle way was found between the laissez-faire policy of classical political economy, as founded by Adam Smith in the 18th century, and the complete state control of socialist governments, derived from Marx's theories of the 19th century. Keynes's system of controlled capitalism defined much of the 20th century, as it was embraced by the political left and right alike across Western Europe and the United States. Keynes's theories became the near-undisputed economic orthodoxy of the decades following the war, until the counter-attack of the monetarist and neoliberal schools undermined his hegemony.

A pristine copy of the true first edition in a stunning dust jacket and extremely rare thus.