john maynard keynes

Hayek vs. Keynes LIVE

by Lee Doren on November 4, 2010

in Bailout Watch, Economy, Stimulus to Nowhere

For those of you who have not seen the Econ Stories production of Hayek vs. Keynes, it is a must see. However, many people who enjoyed the video have been curious about the story behind its production. How was it created? Who first came up with the idea?

Well, the video below is a live rendition of Hayek vs. Keynes and answers many questions that people have.

Personally, what I think is most brilliant about this video is that it hits a young demographic and makes F.A. Hayek’s ideas popular with the masses.You’ll notice that the audience of Keynesian economists are not as impressed as one might think, but I wouldn’t doubt it all started with them being bombarded with Keynes throughout their economic education without ever hearing much of Hayek .

Ronald Coase — a recent video

by Fran Smith on February 9, 2010 · 1 comment

in Economy, Odds & Ends

ronald_coase21

Hadn’t seen this recent video of Ronald Coase from a University of Chicago School of Law conference last fall until it was posted by Peter Boettke.  Coase, now in his 100th year (his centennial birthday is in December), continues to be brilliant, modest and displays his sly sense of humor, as when he says he is puzzled by a speaker’s talk titled “Keynes and Coase” because he didn’t address any of Keynes’ main areas and he only met the man once when he shook his hand after being introduced by Keynes’ assistant.  There was a class system in England then, Coase said, and Keynes was an “old Etonian.” “He was one of them, not one of us.”

Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Battle–Fear the Boom and Bust

by Ryan Lynch on January 25, 2010 · 1 comment

in Culture, Odds & Ends, Zeitgeist

Sit back for a moment and read the title of this blog post again. Let it sink in.

A new video just released by Econstories.tv, a project of The Mercatus Center, explores the basis of both Hayek and Keynes economic theories in classic west coast rap style.  Co-written by Russ Roberts, also host of the EconTalk podcast, this video is attempting something difficult: Finding  ways to expose a new audience to the philosophy of free markets.

German Finance Humor

by Iain Murray on December 10, 2008

in Bailout Watch, CEI Projects, Economy, Regulation

When the Germans are laughing at you, things are in a pretty serious mess. That’s the case with the British version of the bailout, which the German finance minister has just ridiculed:

Criticising the UK government’s decision to cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, Mr Steinbruck questioned how effective this will be.

“Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90?” he said.

“All this will do is raise Britain’s debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off.”

Saying the UK government was now “tossing around billions”, Mr Steinbruck questioned why Britain was now closely following the high public spending model put forward by 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes.

“The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking,” he said.

“When I ask about the origins of the [financial] crisis, economists I respect tell me it is the credit-financed growth of recent years and decades.

“Isn’t this the same mistake everyone is suddenly making again, under all the public pressure?”

Given that so far Henry Paulson and his Treasury team have seemed to take their cues from the Brown government approach, one hopes that Herr Steinbruck will turn his attention to the Bush-Obama policy approach soon. We could do with a Teutonic laugh.