Today is John Maynard Keynes’s birthday. Were he still alive he would be 124.
It is also — in something of an irony of history — the formal birthday of Adam Smith. If you visit Smith’s grave in Edinburgh (you can find a close-up picture here) you’ll see his birthday listed on his gravestone as June 5, 1723. But I understand (from where I can’t now recall) that Smith was born a few days or a few weeks earlier and that June 5th is the date on which he was baptized.
Still, happy birthday to two influential economists, one of them whose works are great and timeless.
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In another interesting confluence, the graves of Karl Marx and Herbert Spencer are across the path from each other.
Smith's birth would have been a few days prior to his baptism. That was the custom in those days of yore.
The Adam Smith Institute places his birthday on June 3. One hopes they would have a good date.
The difference in dates may be due to the change to the Gregorian Calendar, which England, because of anti-Catholic sentiments, did not adopt until 1752. Famous people born before that date, had to have their birthdays reassigned.
John Maynard Keynes! JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES!!! Slowly I turn, step by step…..
Yesterday (June 5th) was the 100th birthday of the great Estonian development economist Prof.Ragnar Nurkse.