Books

First editions, first, second, and third impressions, each with the correct, unclipped dust jacket, of Keynes's last major theoretical work. The General Theory was immediately and intensely controversial: the first impression was printed in February, the second followed in March, and the third in December. The second contains several minor corrections to the text. 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 beyond the boom-and-bust cycle. A middle way was thus found between the laissez-faire policy of classical political economy and the complete state control of socialist economic theory. Keynes's system of controlled capitalism was embraced by the political left and right across Western Europe and the United States and so came to define much of the 20th century. Prior to the counterattack of the monetarist and neoliberal schools, Keynes's theories became the virtually undisputed economic orthodoxy of the decades following the Second World War. Moggridge A10.1; Printing and the Mind of Man 423. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spines lettered and ruled in gilt, covers ruled in blind. With dust jackets. Tables in the text. With 1936 ownership signature of Thomas L. Metters (1907-1986), Lieutenant Commander, of Helmsley House, Havant, Hampshire, to front pastedown of Vol. I. Small faint red Chinese stamp to front free endpaper of Vol. III. Infrequent pencil underlining to Vol. I. Cloth bright, light bumping and rubbing, slight browning and foxing to endpapers, edges, and contents; minor toning, rubbing, and chipping to jackets (Vols I unclipped, Vols II & III without price as issued), a couple of short closed tears to extremities: a near-fine set in very good jackets indeed.

John Maynard Keynes' groundbreaking work established the framework for contemporary macroeconomic theory. It analyses the causes of fluctuating employment levels and proposes interventions to stabilize the economy.