The ‘elusive figure who hides in the preface of Cambridge books’. An appraisal of Richard Kahn’s contributions

This paper, drawing on unpublished material and correspondence, reconstruct the context of Kahn’s work, bringing light to bear on the network of professional and personal relations within which his thought developed. His seminal contribution to imperfect competition, liquidity preseference and wage infaltion are examined in detail. It is argued that to the end of his life, Kahn dedicated his efforts as a theoretical economist, academic, civil servant and member of the House of Lords to grounding economics and building institutions on Keynesian foundations. In the current economic crisis, his arguments appear enduring and forceful as ever.