The Economic Consequences of the Peace

The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) is a book written by the British economist John Maynard Keynes. In his book he argued for a much more generous peace not out of a desire for justice or fairness these are aspects of the peace that Keynes does not deal with but for the sake of the economic well-being of all of Europe including the Allied Powers which the Treaty of Versailles and its associated treaties would prevent. The success of the book established Keynes' reputation as a leading economist especially on the left. When Keynes was a key player in establishing the Bretton Woods system in 1944 he remembered the lessons from Versailles as well as the Great Depression. The Marshall Plan which was promulgated to rebuild Europe after the Second World War was similar to the system proposed by Keynes in The Economic Consequences of the Peace.