Pater Familias

Theories, observations, and articles, by Philip Schaefer · All posts · Categories

VICTORIAN NOVELISTS AND THE ECONOMY.

January 15, 2009 at 5:05 PM · Economics, Literature

VICTORIAN ECONOMISTS AND THE ECONOMY. A famous quote from John Maynard Keynes is: “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.” In today’s Financial Times, there is a letter from Dermot Coleman that points out that in George Eliot’s FELIX HOLT, THE RADICAL, the hero says, “But I care for the people who live now and will not be living when the long-run comes.” Mr. Coleman is writing a PhD thesis on the interesting subject (certainly interesting to me) of economic bearings on George Eliot’s ethical and social thought.