The classical argument for free trade stressed the possibilities of economic growth by exploiting the gains from trade. A trade surplus per se was not the main objective; presumably the argument was that trade would be balanced at the new higher growth rate. Moreover, the arguments for free trade...

This paper identifies what seem to have been the five main issues in contention in monetary theory, both historically and in the current era, and discusses the view that J.M. Keynes took on each of them in the Treatise on Money and The General Theory. The key issues in monetary theory are the...