- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Createspace (3 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1441492267
- ISBN-13: 978-1441492265
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 21.6 x 1.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 215,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.55
Trade in Essays in Persuasion for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.55, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Essays In Persuasion written by legendary author John Maynard Keynes is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Essays In Persuasion is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless piees of classic literature, this gem by John Maynard Keynes is highly recommended. Published by Classic House Books and beautifully produced, Essays In Persuasion would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Essays in Persuasion are a collection of articles and public letters published by Keynes in the 1920s and 30s. They treat mostly of economic subjects, beginning with the Versailles reparations and moving on to monetary manners, especially the return to gold, though the last fifth of the book is dedicated to political discussion (Keynes's view of Communism, the Liberal Party, hopes for a new culture in a future world of abundance...). They are a pleasure to read, spelled out with elegance and common sense and filled with humorous quips and witticisms.
This compendium is for anyone who doesn't have the skills or patience to read Keynes's General Theory. It lays out the essentials of Keynesian economic thinking, in particular on inflation and unemployment, while in passing making clear a number of economic terms and issues - for example how the gold standard worked and why, and the difference with the gold `exchange' standard, something that had completely escaped me. The Essays do require a minimal understanding of economic factors (interest and exchange rates, state and trade budgets, and how they relate), but they are not technical in style and are told in plain words; Keynes's public, after all, was the average newsreader or politician. A basic historical baggage also helps: why reparations were a difficult issue, the American loans, deflation and the incipient depression; here a good introduction is perhaps lacking. Nevertheless, this is accessible to all with this minimum culture, and it is both excellent economic education and mental exercise.
Finally, Keynes was a humanist, as the Essays show. He was the antithesis of the dry and unfeeling economist, and this makes for a refreshing and uplifting work. He was also human: one senses the anxiety rising as he recommended a tariff in 1931, or the misplaced relief at Britain's abandonment of the gold standard (a devaluation, with a similar effects to tariffs). And his modern relevance does not need underlining, with boom and bust and urgent monetary issues back to the fore.
This compendium is for anyone who doesn't have the skills or patience to read Keynes's General Theory. It lays out the essentials of Keynesian economic thinking, in particular on inflation and unemployment, while in passing making clear a number of economic terms and issues - for example how the gold standard worked and why, and the difference with the gold `exchange' standard, something that had completely escaped me. The Essays do require a minimal understanding of economic factors (interest and exchange rates, state and trade budgets, and how they relate), but they are not technical in style and are told in plain words; Keynes's public, after all, was the average newsreader or politician. A basic historical baggage also helps: why reparations were a difficult issue, the American loans, deflation and the incipient depression; here a good introduction is perhaps lacking. Nevertheless, this is accessible to all with this minimum culture, and it is both excellent economic education and mental exercise.
Finally, Keynes was a humanist, as the Essays show. He was the antithesis of the dry and unfeeling economist, and this makes for a refreshing and uplifting work. He was also human: one senses the anxiety rising as he recommended a tariff in 1931, or the misplaced relief at Britain's abandonment of the gold standard (a devaluation, with a similar effects to tariffs). And his modern relevance does not need underlining, with boom and bust and urgent monetary issues back to the fore.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Arguably, Keynes is the most consequential economist in the history of the profession and how he thought and argued is a lesson in logic. This is a collection of essays that Keynes wrote for various publications. They dealt with issues of the day and you may well think none of it can be relevant today. I mean, people don't read Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice today, do they? If that's your thinking you can skip this book. But if somewhere in your heart is the desire to rise above the oatmeal that passes for financial commentary in today's newspapers and the drivel in the readers' commentaries section, then you need to sup at the table of a master and see how it's done. This should be on your reading list.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the introduction, Keynes humorously describes these writings as "croakings of a Cassandra more successful in prophesy than persuasion." And it is astonishing how right, with hindsight, he often was.
The books consists in the main of articles published in magazines and periodicals. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money may be more famous. It is more easily available. Yet it is not nearly as readable as this.
There are essays on the Treaty of Versailles additional to his famous Economic Consequences of Peace, The. There are his writings on the gold standard and why it needed to be abandoned. All these are of interest to those of us interested in economic history. Yet the general reader will probably enjoy most the essays at the end of the books on politics, Russia under the communists, the End of Laissez-Faire and one where he looks into the long term economic future. These latter are as timeless as it is possible for economic writings to be.
All of these, whether one agrees or not, provide fascinating insights into the issues. Here perhaps lies the greatest pleasure in reading this book. Keynes was one of the great minds of the twentieth century. Here one can encounters it at its most acute. Keynes has a reputation among economists for the beauty and elegance of his writing. In this book he lives up to it.
The books consists in the main of articles published in magazines and periodicals. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money may be more famous. It is more easily available. Yet it is not nearly as readable as this.
There are essays on the Treaty of Versailles additional to his famous Economic Consequences of Peace, The. There are his writings on the gold standard and why it needed to be abandoned. All these are of interest to those of us interested in economic history. Yet the general reader will probably enjoy most the essays at the end of the books on politics, Russia under the communists, the End of Laissez-Faire and one where he looks into the long term economic future. These latter are as timeless as it is possible for economic writings to be.
All of these, whether one agrees or not, provide fascinating insights into the issues. Here perhaps lies the greatest pleasure in reading this book. Keynes was one of the great minds of the twentieth century. Here one can encounters it at its most acute. Keynes has a reputation among economists for the beauty and elegance of his writing. In this book he lives up to it.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
