According to The Sunday Times, London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket plans to debut The Standard of Living, a new play all about the British economist John Maynard Keynes.
Sounds like fun for the whole family!
James Graham who wrote 'Dear England' put the script together. He dives into the Keynes' personal life just as much as his theories.
Why Keynes Still Matters
Keynes changed the world. During the chaos of the Great Depression, he didn’t just go along with the usual advice of the day. While everyone said governments should step back during hard times, Keynes said they ought to step up - spend more to keep jobs going and cushion the blow for ordinary people.
Keynes' thinking shaped decades of economic policy after World War II, especially in the West. And even now, pretty much all EU economies are Keynesian - even during the neoliberal era, most countries have maintained a pretty substantial welfare state...
The Man Behind the Numbers
A stage play might sound like a weird place to wrestle with economic theory, but apparently it works. Plays can pack in the drama, the arguments, and the moments that textbooks usually leave out.
Graham’s play isn't just about K's economic theory (damn!). Instead, it digs into Keynes the person:his relationships, personality, and sharp sense of humour.
Keynes is famous for saying, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" Maybe he never actually said those words, but that open-minded attitude definitely captures the kind of thinker he was. He didn’t obsess over one rigid ideology: he paid attention to the world and adjusted when needed.
Maybe we need more people like that in politics today...?
Reaching a wider audience...?
Think about all the talk right now on government debt, public spending, and inflation. Revisiting someone like Keynes feels relevant, almost urgent.
Economic policy affects everything after all: our mortgages, our salaries, public services. Some people will never open an economics textbook, but a night at the theatre might actually get them thinking about what lies beneath the headlines.
Or maybe not - the kind of people unlikely to open text books are just as unlikely to go to the theatre!