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`If Steven Kates is right about Maynard Keynes then Keynes was very wrong about Say's Law - as understood and employed by most mainstream economists up to the writing of The General Theory itself. And not simply was Keynes wrong about the classics but in making legitimate the concept of aggregate demand failure - and quite parentless the law of markets - the consequence of Mr Keynes has been ruinous for theory and policy alike.'
- Bob Layson, Institute of Economic Affairs
`A first rate and scholarly study. Its discussion of the role, interpretation and misinterpretation of 'Say's Law' in the Keynesian and subsequent literature is particularly valuable. No other source throws as much light on these more-recent writings or examines them more systematically.'
- William J. Baumol, New York University and Princeton University, US
`Steven Kates has written a book of considerable learning. He has written an animated and stimulating book. He has written a book that treats with fresh handsome well known materials. It is a pleasure to read, and a gift to its field.'
- William Coleman, History of Economics Review
This highly original contribution examines one of the most controversial concepts in the history of economics - the true meaning of the Law of Markets. This has been a contentious issue since the publication of Keynes's General Theory, but has also divided economists since it first emerged almost two centuries ago in the writings of James Mill. This book discusses the change in the understanding of the nature of the business cycle wrought by the General Theory whose major innovation in overturning Say's Law was to introduce demand deficiency into mainstream economic thought.
The volume provides a robust and innovative exposition of the crucial point of division between classical and Keynesian economics, demonstrating that the role of demand deficiency was the fundamental issue at stake. Steven Kates first discusses Keynes's interpretation of Say's Law before documenting its development within classical theory. He then charts the development of post-General Theory interpretations of Say's Law, challenging Keynes's definition which was captured in the phrase `supply creates its own demand'. The author also attempts to unravel the vast literature on the progress made by Keynes between his Treatise on Money published in 1930 and the General Theory, published six years later. He suggests that the crucial point in the origins of the General Theory was Keynes s discovery of Malthus s writings on Say's Law at the very depths of the Great Depression in 1932.
This provocative book will be required reading for scholars and students interested in the history of economic thought, the history of macroeconomics and the Keynesian revolution.
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The economics category, as expected, is very well represented within the pages of this site. Of all the economics books, around half are explicitly Austrian Economics texts, and (with a significant overlap) around half discuss monetary theory. You may search specifically for economic treatises or books about economists; you will find historical or theoretical accounts of financial crises; you will stumble upon recent books on crypto-currencies (like bitcoin), books covering topics like income or wealth inequality, as well as more technical subjects like price theory, monopoly, division of labor, public choice theory and others. Additionally, critiques of Keynesian economics are to be found throughout the books in this category.
Of the Austrian Economics books, the largest portion discuss The Austrian Business Cycle and praxeology or human action, but you will find many covering to one degree or another topics like time preference, capital and interest, subjective value, and economic calculation, to name a few.
And for those interested in currency or money, whether sound money or fiat money, you will find books arguing the benefits of the gold standard, debates on inflation and deflation, banking, central banks and the Federal Reserve specifically.
At the heart of the free market system of unregulated, voluntary trade stands capitalism and its emphasis on private property. Unsurprisingly, a large collection of books are available on this subject, many of which outline quite clearly the fundamentals and the outcomes of capitalism, especially in contrast to other economic systems like socialism. Additional related topics, such as free trade, decentralization, risk, uncertainty, and the market process can be found in such books.
A note from the curator: Liberty Classroom provides courses like: Austrian Economics Step by Step, two courses on the History of Economic Thought, and What’s Wrong with Textbook Economics, to name a few. With courses like these, how can you not become a fan of Liberty Classroom? I know I am.
And would you like your homeschoolers to learn economics right the first time around? The Ron Paul Curriculum homeschool program covers 12th grade economics from teachers you can trust. In full disclosure, Books of Liberty will get a small advertising fee for purchases made through our links.
One of the most popular topics on this site, history, is a fascinating subject to read. Given the nature of this site it didn’t quite make sense to create a category of ‘revisionist history’ since most of the history books featured are of that nature. Sure enough, we have uncontested historical accounts of various historical events, but when you search for history and drill further down into a specific topic (such as various wars, Pearl Harbor, The New Deal or the Great Depression), you are going to get intellectually honest ‘revisionist’ accounts of these events.
While you may expand your history search by historical event or by selecting US history or the history of some other area or nation, we have classified the history texts by period as well. You can indulge your curiosity if you are an avid reader of one of or more of the following periods: Antiquity, Biblical period, Classical period, Medieval period or the Middle ages, Early modern period, the Renaissance, or specifically within the last few hundred years, as grouped by: 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, or the 20th Century.
And speaking of indulging yourself, with several dozen books on conspiracy theories, you may brush up on such topics as 9/11, the New World Order, False Flag operations, or on the Kennedy deaths, or various institutions and secret societies like The Illuminati, The Freemasons, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Tavistock Institute, or even Skull & Bones.
A note from the curator: The variety of history courses within Liberty Classroom, including two US History courses, two Western Civilization courses, and many (many!) more will, no doubt, make you as big of a fan of Liberty Classroom as I am. The Western Civilization courses are also available to students of the Ron Paul Curriculum homeschool program along with many other courses you will not find in public schools (or most private schools either).
In full transparency, I have no direct experience in homeschooling but if you want your kids to learn the real history you were never taught, you can’t get much better than providing them Ron Paul’s program. Books of Liberty is happy to promote both these programs in exchange for a small advertising fee because I cannot reiterate enough what terrific history resources these programs are.