John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB, had a critical influence on 20th and 21st-century macroeconomics. Born in 1883 in Cambridge, he lived through 62 years that saw the world undergo revolution, global war and unprecedented social change. A proponent of government intervention through economic policy, in which governments would deploy monetary and fiscal initiatives to reduce the vicissitudes of business cycles, his ideas were at the forefront of how numerous countries organised themselves economically for a significant part of the 20th century.
In 1999, Time magazine placed Keynes as one of the 100 most important and influential people of the 20th century, remarking that: "His radical idea that governments should spend money they don't have may have saved capitalism."

Preface
I - Introductory
II - Europe Before the War
III - The Conference
IV - The Treaty
V - Reparation
VI - Europe After the Treaty
VII - Remedies

An attendee at the ill-fated Versailles Conference, John Maynard Keynes had a front-row seat for the negotiations that would squander a peace and sew discord across a continent. One of his best-written works, 'The Economic Consequences of the Peace' was key in propelling Keynes to prominence. Published in 1919, it gained notoriety owing to its withering portraits of both French premier Georges Clemenceau and US president Woodrow Wilson.
A best seller throughout the world, it was instrumental in creating the perception of the Germans as unfairly treated after the First World War. This in turn was crucial in prompting public support for appeasement, so that both the Treaty - and his eloquent criticisms of it - form a key part of the background to both World Wars I and II.