Book chapter
In: Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years, chapter 9, Cambridge University Press, 2023 Dec 14, pp. 234-256
Professor of Economics
APA
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Brezis, E. S. (2023). Why was Keynes Opposed to Reparations and a Carthaginian Peace? In In: Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years (pp. 234–256). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009407540.011
Chicago/Turabian
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Brezis, Elise S. “Why Was Keynes Opposed to Reparations and a Carthaginian Peace?” In In: Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years, 234–256. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
MLA
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Brezis, Elise S. “Why Was Keynes Opposed to Reparations and a Carthaginian Peace?” In: Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years, Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp. 234–56, doi:10.1017/9781009407540.011.
BibTeX Click to copy
@inbook{brezis2023a,
title = {Why was Keynes Opposed to Reparations and a Carthaginian Peace?},
year = {2023},
month = dec,
day = {14},
chapter = {9},
pages = {234-256},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
doi = {10.1017/9781009407540.011},
author = {Brezis, Elise S.},
booktitle = {In: Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace after 100 Years},
howpublished = {Online},
month_numeric = {12}
}
The Economic Consequences of the Peace was first published in 1919 and, since then, changed the economic discourse surrounding reparations and Carthaginian peace. This chapter specifies how three elements hinted at in the introduction of the Economic Consequences of the Peace – social classes, national sovereignty, and the international political system – can explain Keynes’ assessment of Carthaginian peace. The chapter analyses the optimality of reparations in the context of these three elements.
I show that in the situation of a hegemonic country, all classes – the working class as well as the elite – opt for no reparations. But, in a balance of power context, wherein no single actor on the international scene possesses hegemonic status, the working class will choose harsh reparations, while the transnational elite and Keynes will not.
Keywords balance of power, Carthaginian peace, hegemony, reparations, national sovereignty