Past Present

Nov 09, 2011

John F Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you" line in his 1961 inauguration speech was, according to recent documents unearthed, the adaptation of a quote often repeated at his school. "The youth who loves his alma mater will always ask not 'what can she do for me?' but 'what can I do for her'", borrowed from a Harvard dean, was often repeated at the Connecticut school where Kennedy studied. Sometimes speeches must reach a long way back for inspiration. I recently addressed a group of Swiss bankers and lawyers in Geneva. For this I drew on my economics degree and the work of John Maynard Keynes. Then again, Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest & Money is still the best book I have ever read.