John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) was one of the most important economists of the 20th century. His school of thought came to be known as Keynesian economics. Keynes was critical of uncontrolled capitalism and advocated for state intervention to mitigate the boom-and-bust cycle and lower unemployment. His work is one of the sources of macroeconomics.

Keynes received his education at Cambridge. In his youth, he participated in a private organization called the Bloomsbury Group, or “The Society,” whose members included such famous figures as the writer Virginia Woolf. Later, Keynes both lectured and was a fellow at King’s College at Cambridge. Shortly prior to his death, he was involved in negotiations involving an American loan to Britain in the context of World War II.

Before joining the British Treasury during World War I, Keynes worked in the India Office, a department of the British government. The British economist participated in the postwar Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) and advised the country’s leader Lloyd George. Frustrated by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919) punishing Germany, he resigned.

Keynes wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace immediately afterward.