How to Pay for the War by Keynes, John Maynard - 1940: A Radical Plan for the Chancellor of the Exchequer

vi + 88 pp. Printed by Purnell and Sons, Ltd., Paulton (Somerset) and London

Light colour pencil underlining on a few pagesFirst impression of the true first edition, published in 1940. There were two issues of this book - the first was in blue-green paper covered boards, as with this issue, and there was a second printing in pale orange paper covered boards, which incorporated some corrections to the text, and is less common than the earlier uncorrected version. With a four page Preface by J. M. Keynes, King's College, Cambridge, February, 1940. ***Very good in blue-green paper covered printed boards with black titles and borders to spine and front boards. Edges of boards slightly rubbed and creased. Spine hardly darkened at all and complete without any tears to the thin paper covering. The bottom corner of the rear board is slightly creased. Internally, there are no significant marks and no inscriptions. No foxing. Pages clean. Spine tight. No dustwrapper was issued as this was a cheap war economy production. 190mm x 125mm. 88 pages including Appendices at the rear. ***Contents: Preface; Ch. I. The Character of the Problem; II. The Character of the Solution; III. Our Output Capacity and the National Income; IV. Can the Rich Pay for the War?; V. A Plan for Deferred Pay, Family Allowances and a Cheap Ration; VI. Details; VII. The Release of Deferred Pay and a Capital Levy; VIII. Rationing, Price Control and Wage Control; IX. Voluntary Saving and the Mechanism of Inflation; X. The System Adopted in France. ***Appendices: I. The National Income; The extent of our Resources Abroad; III. The Cost of Family Allowances; IV. The Formula for Deferred Pay. Acknowledgments. ***'How to Pay for the War: A Radical Plan for the Chancellor of the Exchequer is an application of Keynesian thinking and principles to a practical economic problem, and a relatively late text [Keynes died in 1946]. Keynes describes a macroeconomic strategy of how Britain, a nation with a population at the time of 40 million people, could conduct a long war against Germany, a nation of 80 million. At the time "How to Pay for the War" was written, neither the United States nor the Soviet Union were at war with either Germany or Japan. As a result, the first step for Britain to effectively conduct a war against Germany was to mobilize all its resources for production. Keynes maintained, however, that the resources of Britain, even at full employment, would not suffice to conduct a war against Germany. Internally, Britain would need to increase production while reducing consumption and diverting resources to the war effort. Externally, Britain would have to be able to count on more resources than internally available, running as large a deficit as its allies were willing to allow. The book is an exercise in Keynesian macroeconomics and is a prime example of Keynesian analysis and technique, by John Maynard Keynes himself.' ***A first issue of the true first edition of John Maynard Keynes' "How to Pay for the War", in really nice condition. This is the uncorrected version in blue-green boards. A second printing was published a few months later in pale orange paper covered boards, which incorporated some corrections to the text. Both issues are hard to find in such nice, collectable condition. A fragile wartime production - this is the best preserved copy we have handled to date. Keynes's most successful essay in persuasion, the application of his General Theory to wartime economy. ***Of interest to collectors of John Maynard Keynes, and books on the economics of the Second World War. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

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