<p>May be you can start reading what Keynes thought of himself, regarding that question, in his 1925 essay <a href="https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/texts/keynes/keynes1925liberal.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Am I a Liberal?</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am ready to sacrifice my local patriotisms to an important general
purpose. What is the real repulsion which keeps me away from Labour? (Keynes, cit.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This essays was first given as an address to the Liberal Summer School which met at Cambridge in August 1925. It was then published as two articles in the Nation and Athenaeum, 8 and 15 August 1925.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-21T14:40:53.073Z
2023-05-21T14:40:53.073Z
BakerStreet
<p>I am working on a research project about political economy. However, I stumbled upon differences in the interpretation of the orientation of John Maynard Keynes. Some sources indicate that Keynes is a liberal political economy theorist, since he is advocating for a free economy as a whole, but he thinks that the government has to interfere in order to compensate the fluctuations of economic growth. On the other side, other theorist consider Keynes to be an economic nationalist, because he champions further government interference.
Thus, my question is which interpretation is more correct?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-21T19:05:34.410Z
What source considers Keynes “economic nationalist”? I can’t believe someone could make that argument since he was strong proponent of internationalism. He was one of the few voices to argue for welfare of Germans at Versailles conference despite being British
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-22T16:13:40.703Z
Maybe Nicolay Bogdanov meant 'statist' , in favor of a heavy role of government.
BakerStreet
<macroeconomics><supply-and-demand><economic-growth><international-trade><political-economy>
Is John Maynard Keynes an economic liberal or an economic nationalist?
Nikolay Bogdanov
# Is John Maynard Keynes an economic liberal or an economic nationalist?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-21)

I am working on a research project about political economy. However, I stumbled upon differences in the interpretation of the orientation of John Maynard Keynes. Some sources indicate that Keynes is a liberal political economy theorist, since he is advocating for a free economy as a whole, but he thinks that the government has to interfere in order to compensate the fluctuations of economic growth. On the other side, other theorist consider Keynes to be an economic nationalist, because he champions further government interference.
Thus, my question is which interpretation is more correct?

**Tags:** macroeconomics, supply-and-demand, economic-growth, international-trade, political-economy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What source considers Keynes “economic nationalist”? I can’t believe someone could make that argument since he was strong proponent of internationalism. He was one of the few voices to argue for welfare of Germans at Versailles conference despite being British  
> **username_2**: Maybe Nicolay username_0 meant 'statist' , in favor of a heavy role of government.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-05-21. Score: 2

May be you can start reading what Keynes thought of himself, regarding that question, in his 1925 essay [Am I a Liberal?](https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/texts/keynes/keynes1925liberal.htm):

> I am ready to sacrifice my local patriotisms to an important general
> purpose. What is the real repulsion which keeps me away from Labour? (Keynes, cit.)

This essays was first given as an address to the Liberal Summer School which met at Cambridge in August 1925. It was then published as two articles in the Nation and Athenaeum, 8 and 15 August 1925.


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