Shred the White Collar and Put on the Blue

A welder at work in a structual shop of the Keystone Drilling Company in Beaver Falls, Pa., in January 1941. John Vachon/Library Of Congress/Getty Images

Commentary

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes, who was the most influential economist of the 20th century, wrote in his popular treatise, “The General Theory,” of his ultimate solution for permanent growth and high employment without business cycles. He called for the government to drive interest rates to zero. This would spur massive borrowing and then investment. It would end the free ride for the idle rich.