Keynes, the Labour Movement, and "How to Pay for the War"
Toye, Richard
Date: 1 January 1999
Article
Journal
Twentieth Century British History
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publisher DOI
Abstract
This article considers the evolution of John Maynard Keynes's wartime plan for
compulsory saving in 1939-40, and the ways in which this was influenced by
Keynes's desire to solicit the support of the Labour movement for the scheme. It is
argued that he saw such support as the prerequisite of the plan's acceptance, and
not only ...
This article considers the evolution of John Maynard Keynes's wartime plan for
compulsory saving in 1939-40, and the ways in which this was influenced by
Keynes's desire to solicit the support of the Labour movement for the scheme. It is
argued that he saw such support as the prerequisite of the plan's acceptance, and
not only actively courted Labour and trade union leaders, but was willing to
substantially amend his ideas in a 'socialist' direction in order to make them, as he
hoped, 'outrageously attractive' to the Labour Party. Keynes's campaign to woo
Labour, and the movement's broadly hostile reaction to the plan, are examined
accordingly. It is argued that Labour's rejection of the scheme was largely the result
of its genuine preference for physical controls on consumption, as opposed to the
strategy of overall demand management favoured by Keynes; although other
factors, such as the perceived likely political unpopularity of compulsory saving,
played a part. It is finally suggested that, before the accession of the Chuchill
coalition, which enabled a partial enactment of the scheme, the political conditions
for the plan's acceptance did not exist.
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