Letter from the Editor

摘要

In this issue, we continue our special series on the application of Keynes's writings for today, a matter this editor thinks is widely neglected. The main argument Matthias Matthijs wants to make in his article is that the euro-despite some significant differences with the gold standard-nonetheless shows striking similarities with the workings of the interwar monetary system. In some sense, he argues, the euro suffers all the disadvantages of the interwar gold standard, without enjoying any of the advantages. This is the case especially from the point of view of the politics of adjustment during balance of payments crises (core vs. periphery), its inherently deflationary bias, against which Keynes warned, and the strong ideological commitment from Europe's political and financial elites to the gold standard or euro. He mainly draws on Keynes's writings on 'Inflation and Deflation' and the 'Return to Gold' (including "The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill") from his collected Essays of Persuasion.