Lights and Shadows: a Keynes’s view on the left

Abstract

It is not easy to classify J. M. Keynes’s ideological and political position. The purpose of this article is to identify his position. Nowadays, part of the left-wing identifies itself with his positions. On the other hand, there are some specialised economic literature positions that clearly show Keynes’s ideas are far from those of the Marxist/Communist left. However, it seems that Keynes’s relationship and his ideas with the culture of the communist left would be marked by deep adherences and rejections. Keynes apparently adopted dubious and pendular positions, but in fact, Keynes was an illuminist, an elitist intellectual, who had a utopia of social justice, material welfare and political liberalism. This is why, he is nowadays admired by the radical and reformist left.

Classificação JEL: B31; A31; A13.