Essays In Persuasion, which was first published in 1931, was author John Maynard Keynes’ first volume of collected essays. In it he gathered together various writings on public affairs from 1919-1931, including some extracts from his published books. The essays taken as a whole embody forecasts and recommendations made by the author on a variety of subjects which can now be checked by the course of events.

Essays In Persuasion is divided into five sections which deal respectively with (1) The Treaty of Peace, (2) Inflation and Deflation, (3) The Return to the Gold Standard, (4) Politics, and (5) The Future.

Whilst a certain proportion of these essays deal with matters which now belong to the past, a considerable number relate to affairs the full course of which has not yet run and where the proposals and ideas set forth still have practical application.