The Moral Economy: Keynes's Critique of Capitalist Justice

In: Critical review: an interdisciplinary journal of politics and society, Band 10, Heft 1, S. 33-61

Abstract

Discusses the moral, political, & economic dimensions of John Maynard Keynes's criticism of utopian visions of laissez-faire capitalism. Neoclassical & Australian economic theory contribute to a vision of an idealized market economy founded on three basic claims: (1) market mechanisms encourage an efficient coordination of competing human activities & desires, (2) market incomes are proportionate to the productive contributions of individuals, & (3) each individual's economic fate is the product of informed choices made within a stable & predictable socioeconomic system. Keynes rejects all of these assumptions, & argues that market mechanisms often perform in uncertain ways with unknowable & often unjust outcomes. Further, separate decisions based on competing interests often lead to results that are not socially optimal; examples are cited in which laissez-faire capitalism contributes to market instability, lack of correlation between income & production, & general inequality. It is concluded that Keynes's criticism of market capitalism contains a moral dimension concerned with justifying personal incomes in reference to public good-rather than private entitlement. 49 References. Adapted from the source document.