Sunday, June 7, 2015

Why Sir Worthington Laming Worthington-Evans Wears a Top Hat

Why is it, then, that Sir Laming holds such very odd opinions? It is like asking me why he wears a top hat. He is a Conservative. The reasons are wrapped in the mists of history. But, roughly, I think I know them. He half understands an ancient theory, the premises of which he has forgotten. 
This theory assumes that all the productive resources -- savings, labour and the gifts of nature -- which are at any time in existence are normally employed because, so the argument assumes, whenever they are unemployed they are ready to accept a lower rate of remuneration, and employment will always be forthcoming at a sufficiently low rate of wages. That is to say, the theory starts off by assuming the non-existence of the very phenomenon which is under investigation. -- J.M. Keynes, A Cure for Unemployment, April 19, 1929

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