How J M Keynes Corrected the Only Major Error He Made in His General Theory in His Correspondence with J. Robinson between September and November, 1936: His Mention of Mrs. Joan Robinson in the Preface to the General Theory

Abstract

J M Keynes stated the following on p.xii of his General Theory on December 13,1935: “I have also had much help from Mrs. Joan Robinson….who have read the whole of the proof-sheets.” (Keynes,1936, p.xii).

In the course of an extensive correspondence with J. Robinson in the months of September, October, and November,1936, over one of her books that she had sent him for review and comment, Keynes discovered that Joan Robinson had (a) no knowledge of basic undergraduate, lower division level training in international trade and exchange rates between two countries and, much, much more seriously, (b) had a serious lack of knowledge about his Liquidity Preference theory of the rate of interest that occupied all or some of chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 21 of the General Theory.

It was now quite clear to Keynes that Joan Robinson had not understood what was in the final draft copy of the General Theory that he had given to her to read and comment on in June, 1935 and to which she replied in four days time:

“Given Keynes’s ambitions, limitations, and expectations, she could be useful, perhaps even valuable, in finishing the book. As in so many instances, events proved Keynes’s judgment sound even if not precisely in the way he anticipated. Within four days of receiving the second set of galleys, Robinson sent him an extensive and detailed set of comments as well as her general impressions of the book (Keynes 1973a, 638–45). How was this extraordinarily swift and thorough response possible? Keynes sent Harrod the galleys on June 5 but did not hear from him until July 31 (see Keynes 1973a, 526–27). Hawtrey’s set was sent on June 12, and he replied by the end of the month (1973a, 567). In four days, how could Robinson read a difficult and confusing book, digest it, and write elaborate and carefully crafted suggestions, many of which Keynes adopted?”(Aslanbeigui and Oakes, 2009, p.205; boldface added).

The correct answer to the question posed by Aslanbeigui and Oakes in 2009, which was “In four days, how could Robinson read a difficult and confusing book, digest it, and write elaborate and carefully crafted suggestions, many of which Keynes adopted?” (Aslanbeigui and Oakes, 2009, p.205; boldface added), in light of her extremely poor performance in the Keynes-Robinson exchanges of September-November, 1936, is that she was not the author who wrote the “…elaborate and carefully crafted suggestions” on the General Theory in four days. The true authors were Richard Kahn and Austin Robinson, just as they were most probably the true authors of The Economics of Imperfect Competition,1933.

Keynes now realized that Joan Robinson’s reply to him in 1935 was not her own. This conclusion follows directly from the first two sentences of Keynes’s letter of November 9th,1936 to Joan Robinson:

“I beg you not to publish. For your argument, as it stands, is most certainly nonsense.” (Keynes, 1936, CWJMK, Vol. 14, p.147; boldface added).