How Should Responsible Investors Behave? Keynes’s Distinction Between Entrepreneurship and Speculation Revisited

This paper deals with Keynes’s distinction between entrepreneurship and speculation, regarding business people in general and especially investors’ behaviour. Based on Keynes’s thoughts about financial markets, it analyses how different motivations influence the decision-making process of investors and its consequences for stock markets and the real economy and clarifies that Keynes’s considerations are still useful for understanding contemporary developments and risks in the financial system. Furthermore, it points out that Keynes’s theories and policy recommendations should be understood in the context of his moral considerations, especially relating to individual responsibility of investors. Finally, Keynes’s moral thoughts can be taken as a foundation for a contemporary approach to investors’ responsibility.