This is a wonderful antidote to the notion that the economy will collapse if we don't all go out and spend our small remaining savings on buying things we don't need.

How can we build an economy and a culture that knows what is enough?

Rachel, California, USA

I for many years have never really seen the point of accumulating riches of any kind, my old man said once that if he could go to his maker with just a penny in his pocket he would feel life had been worth living, well he left more than a penny but not much more, and yes he was a winner!

william thomson, lincoln, uk

Dear old Keynes - he was a rounded person for an economist and I'm sure his vision was well intended. His economic theory is still relevant in parts as with monetarism which followed - but not a panacea. In this shallow age we seek the silver bullet solution - always!

Peter, London,

Ignore Keynes, read Adams..."And so the system broke down, the empire collapsed, and a long, sullen silence settled over the galaxy, disturbed only by the pen-scratchings of scholars as they laboured into the night over smug little treatises on the value of a planned political economy." -

Frank, Plymouth,

Keynes is a comfort blanket for economists and politicians. His ideas were never really tried out and therefore remain fluffily attractive.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

All governments are rooted in power & control. When people can control their own means of production these cycles might stop, & the internet might be the tool to accomplish that. As for the world population being a problem... Walk across China or Canada & tell me if you still feel that way.

Steve, Derby, England

Well surprise surprise, we were not taught aspect of Keynes this at school, indeed what were we taught except to knuckle under and happily become wage slaves. Urged on by our loving parents so as to get us out the door ASAP.

Tom O'Farrell, Sarnia, Ontario

What strikes me, as a scientist, is that so much importance is given to economists and their theoretical work. Economy, at best, has the predictive power of star sign reading! It works mre-or-less as a discipline for describing what happenED. Much like all other "social sciences".

Dave, London, UK

Hard to see how Keynes would have said "fiscal job done" when there is collapse of asset values, growing unemployment, homelessness, etc. His economics, not his half-true prophesy, seems what we need now . We'd understand Keynes better if we read Skidelsky, Moggridge or Markwell on Keynes.

Laura Harrison, Liverpool,

I put it down to climate! As a half south african/ half brit, I feel there is nothing else worth doing here than working for the warmth of money. In other countries they go to the beach or have a bbq instead of working for the man so hard, for which he cares not 1 iota, GIVE IT UP and see the sun..

Gary, London,

I think Keynes' theory is of great use in some content depending on how we use it. If we just apply it into solving problems directly, the results won't be satisfactory. What we need to do is to modify it to make the theory more suitable for the modern sociaty.

Brian, Beijing, China

Le Corbusier;The architect by his arrangement of form realises an order which is a pure creation of his spirit he affects our senses to an acute degree and probes plastic emotion;by the relationship he creates,he awakes profound echoes in us.They changed us, but not the way they expected.

ged, manchester,

The only reason why Keynes has been dragged out of the attic is to provide an intellectual base, on which socialists feel comfortable, for a suitably arguable case to 'pump-prime' the economy in time to provide sufficient feel good factors ahead of the next general election. Don't mention the 1970's

Alan Gooch, Honiton, UK

"Am I a liberal?" (1925) is another of his essays which should be required reading for those who think that how one leads ones life matters - and that politics matter.

Simon., Prevalje, Slovenia

A glorious Keynsian vision of the future, but how do we get there is this job-obsessed economy. The answer (which I don't think Keynes accepted) is of course Basic or Citizen's Income. There is more than enough wealth in the economy to pay everyone a small but adequate income separate.

Conall, Margam, West Glamorgan

I nver new this about Keynes. I see around me the seeds of what the article describes, clearly the error of Keynes is in the timing. Worth investigaing further

malcolm, ely,

Time for a world government with a benign dictatorship.

Russell, Lugano, Switzerland

So..this proves that even great scholars can be crushingly naive and in error (and apparently no more of a visionary than describing financial gains in the most conventional of Christian motifs). Sorry, why was it again we'd want to pursue that as a measure of guidance?

Poul M P Pedersen, Stockport, UK

This utopian state is unattainable unless population shrinks drastically. Then there is the problem of politics. Affluent countries irrationally feel threatened by developing nations and erect trade barriers. Until all nations rise to the same level of affluence, Keynes’ vision won’t be realised.

Indranil Mustafee, London,