There are some of us who do appreciate all of the delicious ‘accusations’ lodged against Keynes by Mason, true as they may be. An earlier version of the speculation v. enterprise distinction that Keynes lays out in Ch. 12 of the General Theory can be found in his distinction in the Treatise on Money between money in financial versus industrial circulation. I would start there, Marie  Good luck.

Best wishes,

Roy Rotheim

p.s. We’re not too far down the road from each other; we should pursue it.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

Marie,

               Few would presume to read Keynes’ complex and ever-shifting mind, conscious and unconscious, left hemisphere or right, but there is no doubt that expectations of resale values of long-term assets (equities, collateral, real estate) rose to dominate market values from 1920 to 1933 or so.  That is perhaps more important than speculating over his id, ego, or superego.

               It was LONG ago that I last passed through Keene.  Hope that the Thoreau Restaurant is still there to adorn the peneplain and delight the passing traveller.

Sincerely,

Mason Gaffney

Dear All,

  I am looking for guidance to Keynes’ Tract on Monetary Reform (1923) or Treatise on Money (1930).  In GT, Keynes’ writes, ““If I may be allowed to appropriate the term speculation for the activity of forecasting the psychology of the market, and the term enterprise for the activity of forecasting the prospective yield of assets over their whole life, it is by no means always the case that speculation predominates over enterprise.    As the organization of investment markets improves, the risk of the predominance of speculation does, however, increase.  [Many] will not readily purchase an investment except in the hope of capital appreciation, [rather than income].  (1936, pp. 158-159)  My sense is that he was thinking about this distinction between speculation and enterprise in his previous throughout the 1920s and early 1930s,  but I do not find much guidance to his works from those years.  Suggestions? 

Thank you.

Marie Christine Duggan, Keene State College, New Hampshire ([log in to unmask]).