In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

222 ARRAYS
Stresemann, Hitler, and the British government all react to the profound
transformations that are taking place in the economic and social
systems. But in doing so, they continue relying on the classic pattern of
a "natural" antagonism between labor and capital. The British economist
John Maynard Keynes, in contrast, publishes a short book entitled
The End of Laissez-Faire which outlines a very different and more
complex distribution of roles and functions within national economies
(Skidelsky, 225ff.). Keynes starts with the thesis that capitalism's belief
in individual motivation and in self-regulatory market forces, as well as
socialism's reliance on the political efficiency of strikes and the ultimate
possibility of the proletarian revolution, emerged out of a particular
situation in the world economy-a situation that was characterized by
three different forms of equilibrium: a balance between capital and labor,
a balance between saving and consumption, and a balance in trade
between the United States and Europe. With the vanishing of this scenario,
he sees the "semi-autonomous bodies" of large companies shaping
up as decisive agents between the all-embracing collective body of the
State on the one side and individual workers and owners on the other
(227). Since Keynes is convinced that the economists in charge of these
semi-autonomous bodies are becoming more distant from participation
in the political process and more knowledgeable about science and technology,
he argues that they deserve to assume the leadership of society.
While his proposal seems, in part, just another variation of the familiar
idea that leadership is associated with the point at which individuality
and collectivity converge [see Engineers, Stars, Individuality = Collectivity
(Leader)], Keynes's model is actually quite different from the traditional
one: rather than identifying this place of convergence with the
State or with an individual politician, he believes that political parties
and the State should refrain from intervening in the economy. "With
technical questions removed from party warfare, political debate would
... largely revolve around the nature of the ideal society of the future"
(228). [see League of Nations]
Since Keynes's analysis leaves behind the still generally accepted model
of class struggle, it is highly confusing for his readers. A review article
on the German translation of his book published by the Social Democratic
daily Vorwarts on August 1 begins by assuming, on the basis of
Keynes's critique of socialism, that he must be a partisan of capitalism.