John Maynard Keynes, Socialism and Economic Policy of Nazi Germany

Keynes foreword to the German edition of his General Theory is one of the causes of the association between his name and a total state. This paper looks into how justified the link between Keynes's theory and the Nazi German economic policy really is. The first part introduces Keynes's ideas on economic policy and his vision of society. These are in the second part confronted with the economic policy of the Nazi Germany (and partly that of Bolshevik Russia) and common components are identified. The conclusion is that despite his explicit repudiation of socialism and dictatorship and his efforts to "save" capitalism, Keynes's concept of economic policy was similar to the economic policy of Nazi Germany and opened the way towards socialism and planning.