John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was an early 20th-century British economist, best known as the founder of Keynesian economics and the father of modern macroeconomics, the study of how economies—markets and other systems that operate on a large scale—behave. One of the hallmarks of Keynesian economics is that governments should actively try to influence the course of economies, especially by increasing spending to stimulate demand in the face of recession.

In his seminal work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money—considered one of the most influential economics books in history—he advocates government intervention as a solution to high unemployment.