John K. Galbraith tells the economic history of a couple of economies (mostly UK, US and to a lesser extent Germany) from the end of the first world war until the Bretton Woods conference. He also provides a biography of John M. Keynes and outlines some central ideas of Keynes such as the possibility of an underemployment equilibrium. Galbraith complements the historical remarks by the biographical experiences he made in economic management (and in engaging with Keynes) serving as deputy head of the Office for Price administration during the second world war.

In the fifth part of the Economics of COVID-19 Webinar by SOAS, Jo Michell sketches out the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wider macroeconomy and warns against a resurgence of austerity politics.