Keynes om kriser

The only radical cure for the crises of confidence which afflict the economic life of the modern world would be to allow the individual no choice between consuming his income and ordering the production of the specific capital-asset which, even though it be on precarious evidence, impresses him as the most promising investment available to him. It might be that, at times when he was more than usually assailed by doubts concerning the future, he would turn in his perplexity towards more consumption and less new investment. But that would avoid the disastrous, cumulative and far-reaching repercussions of its being open to him, when thus assailed by doubts, to spend his income neither on the one nor on the other.

Det er fra kapittel 12 i Keynes General Theory. Dette er et argument for å stimulere investeringer i tillitskriser, i stedet for konsumpsjon og sparing. Her er altså en idémessig foranledning for at lavere renter er riktig medisin i krisetider.

Men Keynes sier noe mer enn at folk trenger å oppfordres til å investere: Det spesielle med tillitskriser er nettopp det at insentiver virker dårligere enn vanlig. Den eneste «radikale kuren» mot tillitskriser er å tvinge individet til å investere foran å konsumere. Det middelet vi i dag har for en slik tvang, er å øke skattene og bruke offentlige midler til investering.