Keynes for Beginners

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Peter Pugh, Chris Garratt

John Maynard Keynes is among the most brilliant and influential economists of the 20th century. His revolutionary treatise written during the Great Depression of the 1930s, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money", overturned the conventional free market wisdom of the time and proposed that a radical new way of creating a healthy economy and full employment depended on the total spending of consumers, business investors and governments. Frightened by mass unemployment, governments throughout the capitalist world pursued Keynesian policies until the 1970s when a new economic theory, monetarism, became fashionable. As monetarism failed to prevent the world entering another major recession, it is time to look at Keynesian remedies again. This book explains the Keynesian revolution and paints a picture of Keynes the man - a brilliant scholar, a colourful member of the Apostles and the Bloomsbury Group, an open homosexual who later married a ballerina, and a stock market speculator.

Genres: Economics, Comics, Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, History

174 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 1990

Reviews

[HAMiD · Rating 2 out of 5]

تنها سرزمینی هستیم گویا که به هیچ فرمول و رابطه ای نمی شود سقط ابدی اش را در اقتصاد و همه ی اجزای دیگر اجتماعی و فرهنگی و انسانی و... شرح داد. و شگفتا از آنهایی که به گمان خودشان سفت دین شان را چسبیده اند که دنیا کشک است! و آری در سرزمینی پر از نفت و منابع من صفِ جگر مرغ و سنگدان اش را دیدم. من صفی دیدم که پای مرغِ به قیمت دولتی توزیع می کرد و کارشناس پفیوز سلامت در تلوزیونِ بی همه چیز مملکتش داشت از خواص پای مرغ برای کودکان می گفت! عجب ملغمه ای هستیم ما که دست نمی کشیم از این نادانی تاریخی مان و هر جا پای نذری در میان باشد از نو ایمان مان را بازسازی می کنیم! شگفتا از این همه پفیوزی تاریخی

1402-05-12

[Liam Macci · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, entertaining read that isn't quite sure of its audience, this Graphic Guide to Keynes is full of clever references for the initiated and simplification for the novice. The attempt to please both types of reader falls flat though, leaving economists rolling their eyes, and laymen scratching their heads.

The book would make a good gift to a young student with an interest in economics.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should be read with a grain of salt, but not a complete waste of time.

[Ville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelpo minihistoriikki Keynesistä ja Keynesin perinnöstä taloustieteelle. Suht hyvin pääkohdat saatiin lyhyessä tilassa käytyä, ehkä tämä voisi paniikkilukuun soveltua tenttikirjaksikin. Kritiikkiä olisi ehkä sopinut vähän laajentaa mutta olihan tämä niin tiivis paketti ettei kaikkea muutenkaan ehditty laajemmin käsitellä. Kuvitus oli kyllä odotetun raskas paikoitellen, klassista oppikirjaestetiikkaa. Mutta sisältö pääsääntöisesti kyllä kelvollista.

[Bruce Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to Keynes, brief and succinct. What I got from this presentation was that Keynes's thought was complex and sometimes contradictory. I got lost when the authors tried to explain some finer points of Keynesianism. I liked the explanation of why Reagan's application of monetarism / Free Market Capitalism was actually a form of Keynesianism. The US government increased spending dramatically during Reagan's terms, mostly on building up the military and armaments. The budget deficit rose from $60 billion in 1980 to $200 billion in 1985.

[Panthea · Rating 4 out of 5]

دور ِ همی به بهانه ی نظریات جان مینارد کینز.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Economic thinking?

Some black and white illustrations. Prime freebie. A good biography of keynes. The explanations of his evolving economic thinking is only adequate, he would occasionally contradict himself in speech. Perhaps just read the books, ignore anything he said whilst in the government.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but incomplete. The illustrations, while charming, don't help to convey the abstract economic ideas being explored in the text. Furthermore, the text was evidently written in the early-90's; any analysis of economic policies would surely have to take into account the recessions of 2008 and, now, 2020.

[Philip Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Useful read

Simplistic, but informative with a detailed further read section if you wish further research a fascinating subject. If everyone read a little of this subject there might be less apathy to what happens in our economy and it’s consequences

[Dimitri T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the low cost with a few good bits of info

As my title says, there was a few good tid bits of info about Keynes i wasn't even aware of so, IMHO, worth every cent of this low cost book.

[Dana Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good intro to Keynes, both from a historical and economic perspective.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good primer.

Decent primer. A few things I didn't know. It is obvious that the author is a fan. Almost no criticism at all.

[Matthew Schiliro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

Good introduction and explains how we got where we are today. I would recommend this book of you want to learn about economics

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT SUMMARY

This is a fabulous summary. It has a clear/concise outline of Keynesian policies with a mention of Friedman's Monetary Policies.

[oldmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too little detail about the theories along with too much jargon. The biographical bits were interesting nonetheless.

[George Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro tho JMK

A fairly clear introduction requiring no more than a modest understanding of economics. Good starting point for someone curious about finance.

[Jince George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy the reading as such. It was my first experience with a graphic guide. The jargons are bit too much for a layman.

[Ellie violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy bit of light reading. Good for beginners.

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book with very entertaining illustrations. However, I am not sure I really learned as much as I hoped for.

[Edward Tutert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive guide to John Maynard Keynes, a very intresting British economist. Quite leftish,he justifies gov intervention through policies to achieve price stability and full employment. The book doesn’t seems to cover everything imo and is a bit fastly explained without much text, which made it somewhat difficult for me to follow. Not really a fan of the ‘introducing’ series.

[Roodabe]

اولین بار که این کتاب رو دیدم گفتم چه کتاب پرزرق و برقی. حیفه که اینجا تو گودریز عکس جلد کتاب رو نداریم. کتاب کم کم چهار ساله که تو کتابخونم خاک می خورد چون واسه یه تازه وارد به دنیای اقتصاد با اون حال پرادعا بودن ما به هر حال کتاب سطحی بود این پرزرق و برق بودنشم به نظر جلف می اومد. حقیقت ولی اینه که اگه هم اون موقع می خوندم چندان ازش سر در نمی آوردم. کتاب برام پر می شد از گزاره های خبری ای که همه رو شنیده بودم و باهاشون آشنا بودم ولی هنوز درک عمیقی ازشون نداشتم. این روزا که می خوندمش ولی با خودم فکر کردم یه غیر اقتصادی اگه سراغ این کتاب بیاد جز آشنایی با ادبیات کینزی چی دستگیرش می شه؟ راستش رو بخواید فک کنم هیچی. حتی به نظرم کارتون های کتاب که قراره نمک این معرفی باشه هم نباید جذابیتی داشته باشه.این قضیه مهم میشه چون فی الواقع این کتاب یک کتاب از مجموعه کتاب های " گام به گام با جهان فلسفه مدرن" ه! یه ایراد دیگه کتاب هم از نظر من عدم آشنایی مترجم با ادبیات اقتصادیه. این البته مشکل خیلی از کتاب هاییه که از در فلسفه، اخلاق یا ریاضی به اقتصاد ورود می کنن. متاسفانه مترجمین در پیدا کردن لغات متناظر اهمال می کنن یا شاید اصرار دارن خلاقیت بیش از حد نشون بدن و خب در بسیاری از موارد شکست می خورن. این کتاب هر جا که از تاریخ گفتن جدا شد و خواست اقتصاد بگه به این مشکل برخورد. مثلا به کار بردن ترکیب "ضریب افزایش" به جای "ضریب افزاینده" به جز این که ترجمه نادقیقی است در رساندن مفهوم هم ناتوانه. یا مثلا لغت "برون داد " رو من هنوز نتونستم حدس بزنم به عنوان ترجمه چه کلمه ای به کار برده که ما که این همه تکست خوندیم بهش برنخوردیم فقط می شد فهمید اسم تولید محقق شده رو این گذاشته. خلاصه اگه این نقطه آغاز ورود به ادبیات کینز باشه بلافاصله بعدش لازم یه فرهنگ لغت هم دست خواننده بدیم چون خیلی از این واژه ها رو بعد این کتاب نخواهد دید و باید با دایره لغات دیگه ای آشنا شه.
نهایتا اما دیروز این کتاب عصر کسل من رو نجات داد و هلم داد که بخوام باز تو کتابای کلانم غرق شم. خوشمزگی های کارتونیشم مصداقی بود برا یه نظری که همینجا خونده بودم: یه دوره همی خودمونی اقتصادی!

[Rudolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTES AS I READ:

.114, Did Keynes lose ground/compromise on his Bretton woods stand? (give in to pressures?)

Did the UK, swept/lead by Keynes (s'optimism) believe that the IMF and WB will be prudent and benificial org's for the global citizen, while the US thought its the ideal basis for extending its influence/empire and therefore it was in the both UK and US' interest to form these powerful organisations. Were they acting sincerely for the greater good or simply following their own national interests? Could both motivations hold?(cos self interest always does). Or did it start out with one motivation which evolved into the other?

The book has many subtlties within the ilustrations which go unexplaind. Good cos it avoids info overload. Bad cos all is not revealed (important parts of the argument is omitted - creates a bias).

[Susan Steed · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, some things about this are excellent, like the explanation of the multiplier, the interwar years, the rise of Hitler. But there are some serious omissions, so no mention of some of his work like 'the economics possibilities for our grandchildren' where Keynes' argues that in the future we *wouldn't* be working. This means that I think their attempt to apply Keynesianism to the 70s and 80s are very poor reflections of what he would be writing about. Also they don't mention that Keyne's believed in capital controls, and localism in Banking which again seriously undermines their analysis of the 80s.
Also,I read a version published in the 90s, would obvz benefit from inclusion of 2008.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid introduction to the man and his theories. I feel as though that there could be 'more' to this book though. The book does a great job of pre-Keynes and the dominant economic theories, as well as the post-Keynes history and how he fell out of favour. So I'm not sure what could be enhanced - just that there feels like there could be more. Maybe more on his personal history? Or competing theories?

[Ariel Celeste]

Keynes was a member of Doonesbury in Oxford where he practiced uncompromising homosexuality. They don't teach you that in Econ 101!

[Sysrq210 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Mawr · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, accessible introduction.

[Lennart Dührsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned some interesting facts, but the economics concepts mentioned (debt, currencies, exchange rates etc) are unfortunately not explained very well.