Editing John Maynard Keynes (section)

====Turning point of the Great Depression====
According to Keynesian theory, trade deficits are harmful.The countries that import more than they export weaken their economies. When the trade deficit increases, unemployment rises and [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) slows down. Furthermore, surplus countries exert a "negative externality" on their trading partners. They get richer at the expense of others and destroy the output of their trading partners. John Maynard Keynes believed that the products of surplus countries should be taxed to avoid trade imbalances.{{r|stig}}

At the beginning of his career, Keynes was an economist close to [[Alfred Marshall]], deeply convinced of the benefits of free trade. From the crisis of 1929 onwards, noting the commitment of the British authorities to defend the gold parity of the pound sterling and the rigidity of nominal wages, he gradually adhered to protectionist measures.{{r|Maurin free}}

On 5 November 1929, when heard by the [[Macmillan Committee]] to bring the British economy out of the crisis, Keynes indicated that the introduction of tariffs on imports would help to rebalance the trade balance. The committee's report states in a section entitled "import control and export aid", that in an economy where there is not full employment, the introduction of tariffs can improve production and employment. Thus, the reduction of the trade deficit favours the country's growth.{{r|Maurin free}}

In January 1930, in the Economic Advisory Council, Keynes proposed the introduction of a system of protection to reduce imports. In the autumn of 1930, he proposed a uniform tariff of 10% on all imports and subsidies of the same rate for all exports.{{r|Maurin free}} In the ''Treatise on Money'', published in the autumn of 1930, he took up the idea of tariffs or other trade restrictions with the aim of reducing the volume of imports and rebalancing the balance of trade.{{r|Maurin free}}

On 7 March 1931, in the ''[[New Statesman and Nation]]'', he wrote an article entitled ''Proposal for a Tariff Revenue''. He pointed out that the reduction in wages led to a reduction in national demand which constrained markets. Instead, he proposed the idea of an expansionary policy combined with a tariff system to neutralise the effects on the balance of trade. The application of customs tariffs seemed to him "unavoidable, whoever the Chancellor of the Exchequer might be". Thus, for Keynes, an economic recovery policy is only fully effective if the trade deficit is eliminated. He proposed a 15% tax on manufactured and semi-manufactured goods and 5% on certain foodstuffs and raw materials, with others needed for exports exempted (wool, cotton).{{r|Maurin free}}

In 1932, in an article entitled ''The Pro- and Anti-Tariffs'', published in ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'', he envisaged the protection of farmers and certain sectors such as the automobile and iron and steel industries, considering them indispensable to Britain.{{r|Maurin free}}