(A little entertaining interlude for the greater edification of my reader.)
One of the funniest quotations about capitalism has been attributed to John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946):
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
(Keynes was, arguably, the greatest expert on political economy, and on capitalism in particular. It was his economic model which is said to have been in circulation throughout the capitalist world until the new era of “Reaganomics” had been ushered in some thirty years ago, to be effectively discredited by the 2008 world economic crisis. Whether the capitalist world is getting back to an updated version of Keynes is probably too early to say, although such an impression is definitely in the air.)
Sadly, although Keynes could well have made the above-quoted comment on capitalism, it must be considered spurious, as it cannot be sourced back to a specific Keynesian lecture, or article, or any other document bearing his name.
It appears that, the attribution of this quote, in a different wording, can be originally traced to the 1951 book Christianity and Human Relations in Industry (London, 1951, see page 109) by Sir George Ernest Schuster (1881-1982), a British lawyer, financier, and politician. Here is the passage in point:
“This theory and practice [of free enterprise] were supported (to quote Canon Demant) ‘by the doctrine of the invisible hand, which behind the scenes of human will and intelligence made all things work together for good whether men loved God or not,’ or, as J. M. Keynes used to put it, ‘the astonishing belief that the nastiest motives of the nastiest men somehow or other work for the best results in the best of all possible worlds.’”
(For the record: the Canon Demant in this passage is the Reverend Dr. Vigo Auguste Demant (1893-1983) Canon of Christ Church in Oxford, who was a notable theologian and social commentator. The quotation that is attributed to Keynes contains an allusion to Leibniz; and Adam Smith takes the credit for the phrase “an invisible hand,” which concludes our reference annotations.)
Now, returning to the charming pseudo-Keynesian dictum in the opening part of this entry, I insist that it must not be discarded for the mere technical reason that it cannot be properly attributed to the authority of the great Dr. Keynes. It obviously possesses its own intrinsic merit, which brings to mind the delightful Italian saying “Si non e Vero, e Ben Trovato…”
One of the funniest quotations about capitalism has been attributed to John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946):
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
(Keynes was, arguably, the greatest expert on political economy, and on capitalism in particular. It was his economic model which is said to have been in circulation throughout the capitalist world until the new era of “Reaganomics” had been ushered in some thirty years ago, to be effectively discredited by the 2008 world economic crisis. Whether the capitalist world is getting back to an updated version of Keynes is probably too early to say, although such an impression is definitely in the air.)
Sadly, although Keynes could well have made the above-quoted comment on capitalism, it must be considered spurious, as it cannot be sourced back to a specific Keynesian lecture, or article, or any other document bearing his name.
It appears that, the attribution of this quote, in a different wording, can be originally traced to the 1951 book Christianity and Human Relations in Industry (London, 1951, see page 109) by Sir George Ernest Schuster (1881-1982), a British lawyer, financier, and politician. Here is the passage in point:
“This theory and practice [of free enterprise] were supported (to quote Canon Demant) ‘by the doctrine of the invisible hand, which behind the scenes of human will and intelligence made all things work together for good whether men loved God or not,’ or, as J. M. Keynes used to put it, ‘the astonishing belief that the nastiest motives of the nastiest men somehow or other work for the best results in the best of all possible worlds.’”
(For the record: the Canon Demant in this passage is the Reverend Dr. Vigo Auguste Demant (1893-1983) Canon of Christ Church in Oxford, who was a notable theologian and social commentator. The quotation that is attributed to Keynes contains an allusion to Leibniz; and Adam Smith takes the credit for the phrase “an invisible hand,” which concludes our reference annotations.)
Now, returning to the charming pseudo-Keynesian dictum in the opening part of this entry, I insist that it must not be discarded for the mere technical reason that it cannot be properly attributed to the authority of the great Dr. Keynes. It obviously possesses its own intrinsic merit, which brings to mind the delightful Italian saying “Si non e Vero, e Ben Trovato…”
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