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John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes Quotes

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Famous John Maynard Keynes Quotes

“Professional investment may be likened to those newspaper competitions in which the competitors have to pick out the six prettiest faces from a hundred photographs, the prize being awarded to the competitor whose choice most nearly corresponds to the average preferences of the competitors as a whole.”

MayWholeFacesChoicesSixPicksHundredCompetitionInvestmentPhotographAverageNewspapersPrizePreferenceCompetitorsPrettiest
Book:General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money
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“It is impossible that the intention of the entrepreneur who has borrowed in order to increase investment can become effective (except in substitution for investment by other entrepreneurs which would have occurred otherwise) at a faster rate than the public decide to increase their savings”

PhilosophyPoliticalOrderImpossibleIncreaseEntrepreneurIntentionInvestmentRateSavingFasterClassicSavingsPolitical PhilosophyBorrowedSubstitution
Book:General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money
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“To suppose that safety-first consists in having a small gamble in a large number of different companies where I have no information to reach a good judgment, as compared with a substantial stake in a company where one's information is adequate, strikes me as a travesty of investment policy.”

FirstsDifferentNumbersCompanyInformationPolicyJudgmentSafetyInvestmentInvestingStrikesStakesAdequateGambleLarge NumbersDiversificationGood JudgmentTravestySafety First
Author:John Maynard Keynes
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“Of the maxims of orthodox finance none, surely, is more anti-social than the fetish of liquidity, the doctrine of that it is a positive virtue on the part of investment institutions to concentrate their resources upon the holding of 'liquid' securities. It forgets that there is no such thing as liquidity of investment for the community as a whole.”

WholeSocialCommunityForgetVirtueSecurityResourcesInstitutionsInvestmentDoctrineFinanceOrthodoxMaximsLiquidFetishAnti SocialLiquidity
Book:General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money
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“As time goes on, I get more and more convinced that the right method in investment is to put fairly large sums into enterprises which one thinks one knows something about and in the management of which one thoroughly believes. It is a mistake to think that one limits one's risk by spreading too much between enterprises about which one knows little and has no reason for special confidence. . . . One's knowledge and experience are definitely limited and there are seldom more than two or three enterprises at any given time in which I personally feel myself entitled to put full confidence.”

ThinkingKnowsFeelsBelieveLittlesTwoReasonThreeGivenMistakeToo MuchRiskSpecialGoes OnLimitsManagementMethodInvestmentConvincedEnterpriseNo ReasonEntitledTime Goes OnKnowledge And Experience
Author:John Maynard Keynes
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“I expect to see the State, which is in a position to calculate the marginal efficiency of capital-goods on long views and on the basis of the general social advantage, taking an ever greater responsibility for directly organizing investments.”

LongStatesPhilosophyPoliticalSocialViewsResponsibilityGreaterPositionAdvantageEconomicsBasesInvestmentGoodsEfficiency
Book:Keynes and Public Policy After Fifty Years: Theories and method
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“The spectacle of modern investment markets has sometimes moved me towards the conclusion that to make the purchase of an investment permanent and indissoluble, like marriage, except by reason of death or other grave cause, might be a useful remedy for our contemporary evils. For this would force the investor to direct his mind to the long-term prospects and to those only.”

MindLongSometimesReasonMightEvilForceCausesTermModernDirectMovedInvestmentGravesContemporaryConclusionPermanentLong TermInvestorsRemedyProspects
Book:General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money
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