Keynesianism as Fulfillment

This essay is composed of three chapters that contextualize the Keynesian Revolution within trends in history of economic thought and trends in institutional transformations in American public administration.;In the first chapter, I look at the transforming nature of economics between Adam Smith and the Keynesian revolution. It is argued that Smith and the classical economists were engaged in a constitutional analysis and that that perspective gradually faded throughout the nineteenth century and disappeared in Keynesianism.;In the second chapter, I explain why the Keynesian Revolution was able to so quickly sweep the economics profession; Keynesianism represented the opportunity for economists to become experts to the state. The demand for economist experts was generated by the Progressive reforms of public administration that took place through the first half of the twentieth century. Keynesianism fulfilled these demands. Throughout the chapter I show the affinities between the Keynesian supply of expert economics and the demand that derived from the Progressive ideals.;In the final essay I argue that the failures of Keynesian economics can be seen as a facet of the broader problems in the Progressive paradigm. Because public decision makers are not omniscient or benevolent, institutions must be arranged to cope with knowledge and incentive problems. Ostrom presents a theory of polycentric order as a means of coping with these problems. He also argues that a similar theory was the foundation of the American constitution that the Progressives rejected. The Progressives ignored these issues in their reforms of American public administration. The failures of Keynesian policies can thus be seen as a manifestation of the problems of the Progressive bureaucratic regime.