He became famous by critism of the peace treaty of Versailles with Germany in the Economic Consequences of the Peace. During the crises of 1920s he stated the Britain´s conservative policies as its cause. Later the unemployment crises inspirated his great works General Theory of Employment and Interest and Money. He declared that full employment was not automatic condition and expounded a new theory of the rate of the interest. The cause of unemployment was, according to him, due to a deficiency in the demand for goods and services. He also modified his classical belief in internantional free trade because of the full employment. He belonged among intereventionists and said that government could overcome this deficiency by adjusting own spendings and by control of money. He seemed to provide a human way for capitalism to survive. In his work General Theory of Employment he argued that the central government needed to intervention especially during the time of chronic unemployment. He was also one of the key-figures involved in Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 when influential political and intellectual persons from Europe and USA came together to rethink international economic policies. Keynesian macroeconomic theory:
This theory grew out in the 1930s when there was so-called Great Depression and Neoclassical economy was able neither explain its causes nor give a solution. Keynes thought that a "do nothing" approach to economy could make the situation only worse.

General Theory of Employment is now considered one of the most significant text of economic thoughts. It consists of Keynes´ lectures on topic full empoyment. He explained here why he thought that price adjustment would not have been successful but even it would have worsen the crisis. He also offered here other aspects of the mainstream approach and theoretical framework.

"If the Treasury were to fill old bottles with banknotes, bury them at suitable depths in disused coalmines which are then filled up to the surface with town rubbish, and leave it to private enterprise on well-tried principles of laissez faire to dig the notes up again. . . there need be no more unemployment. . . . It would indeed be more sensible to build houses and the like; but if there are political and practical difficulties in the way of this, the above would be better than nothing."
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory, p. 129.





Milton Friedman (1912-)

He is the best known member of Monetarists. Monetarists are a group of American economists who are called after their preoccupation with money and its effects.