In "The General Theory of Employment, Interest Money" John Maynard Keynes wrote “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."
Watch the video and see if you can hear the voices of Keynes and Hayek, two defunct economists, reflected through politicians who support the stimulus (Keynes) and those who oppose it (Hayek).
I love Hayek's quote at the end of the video, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." It neatly summarizes the views of Austrian economists and others who they have influenced.
In my opinion, Keynes appeared to be pretty "full of himself", but felt he could "cure" the economy, but Heyek had much better ideas and theories. Overall, I really enjoyed the rap.
I am Brooks Wilson an Instructor of Economics at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, and I hold a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California at Davis.
I created this blog to allow my students, past and present, to learn economics above and beyond what they learn in class, and to meet others interested in economics.
I am grateful for every reader who could ignore my blog and read those maintained by great economists like Gary Becker, Richard Posner, James Hamilton, Menzie Chinn, Russ Roberts, Brad DeLong, and others.
I too loved the quote at the end of the rap......said a mouthful ...and the moral of the story is.....very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Keynes appeared to be pretty "full of himself", but felt he could "cure" the economy, but Heyek had much better ideas and theories. Overall, I really enjoyed the rap.
ReplyDeleteEconomics 101 in rap form :) excellent. I agree with Mr. Brooks about Hayek's quote, it makes an outstanding point.
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