Friday, April 29, 2011

Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQnarzmTOc&feature=player_embedded You might need to cut and paste this into your browser.

The new Keynes vs. Hayek video by 2010 Sammies winners John Papola and Russ Roberts was just released.

Enjoy!

2 comments:

Jim G. said...

I have been taking Hayek and I did not even know it!

And just like in the video, Baxter with a grain of truth, but mostly wrong, especially when subject to critical analysis, is somehow...right?

The parts about how it is foolhardy to try and "dial" an economy are the best.

Baxter said...

If Hayek had been in charge in 2008 or 2009, we would be in a Great Depression right now.

That's right. When it mattered most, George W Bush was a Keynesian. He didn't want to oversee a collapse "worse than the Great Depression", as he said. So what did he do? He implemented Keynesian policies. Thank god Paulson and Bernanke were there to make him do it.

It's a shame he wasn't a Keynesian earlier. Perhaps, he'd have had a net surplus over eight years rather than doubling the national debt. Keynes would argue for surpluses during that time of growth. Instead, we suffered Cheneysian economics - "Deficits don't matter."