Robert Skidelsky death – some recollections (opens in new tab)

The biographer of Keynes in three volumes – Robert Skidelsky – died on April 15, 2026 at the age of 84. As I explain below, Skidelsky was what we consider to be a mainstream ‘deficit dove’, who are Keynesian and Post Keynesian economists that are comfortable with using fiscal deficits to increase economic activity when there is mass unemployment, consider the government must then pursue surpluses on the other side of the cycle to balance out the fiscal position over the full cycle. They couch...