In the book Keynes argued that in order for Germany to earn the money to pay the Allies, it would have to sell more goods than it bought, and its trade partners would have to be willing to absorb this large influx of goods, with potentially crippling consequences for their own industries. It was therefore in the Allies’ own self-interest to moderate their demands. As he put it, “If Germany is to be milked, she must not first of all be ruined.” He concluded that the most Germany could afford to pay, without causing a massive disruption of world trade, was around $6 billion.
