Make sure to listen to a recent radio interview with Nicholas Wapshott, author of the new book, “Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics.” What was the relationship between Keynes and Hayek really like? Why did Keynesian thought dominate from WWII until 1980? Why did Hayekian thought dominate from 1980 until the recent crisis? Which thought will utlimately win? What’s an important lesson economists and policymakers can take away from this book today? Be sure to listen to answers to these questions and more by listening to the link above!
It’s not Eminem or Dre, not East Coast or West. It’s economists Hayek and Keynes, and Congress can’t decide who gets it best. They’re battling it out on the mean streets of DC, to see who can fix the economy…. Sometimes, the best way to get a point across is to bust a rhyme, and the floors of Congress are no exception. This week, EconStories.tv released its new video, “Fight of the Century,” featuring economists John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich August Hayek bringing the heat during a congressional hearing.
With the country in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, it’s no surprise that the economy is on everyone’s mind. According to the latest Gallup poll, 7 in 10 Americans point to economic issues as the most important problems facing the country. Such are the problems—now what do we do about them? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to Paul Krugman of The New York Times, we need another $800 billion stimulus. The first one, you see, wasn’t big enough. “The stimulus right now …
In what Politico is calling “the first whiff of the desperation inside the White House about the slowness of the economic recovery,” President Barack Obama spoke to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday, claiming: “I understand the challenges you face. I understand you are under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep your margins up. I understand the significance of your obligations to your shareholders and the pressures that are created by quarterly reports. I get it.” No. No, he doesn’t. President Obama went on to say, “Even as we …
It seems every day there are more calls for government intervention to relieve us from the infliction and anguish caused by our current economic woes. Those who call for more government centralization and planning reason that doing so can dispel hardship and decline. Yet rarely do they consider that central planning doesn’t work precisely because it counters the variable paramount to guide societal and economic complexities: freedom. In his indispensable 1944 classic, The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich von Hayek imparts his sage insight: Economic control is not merely control of …
The Hill reports today: Energy panel Republicans are levying accusations of witness intimidation against Democratic Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the key authors of the contentious House climate change bill. Republicans have seized on a letter – a copy of which was obtained by The Hill – that Markey penned to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff asking FERC to investigate the actions of a major energy company on the same day that the company’s CEO was set to testify before the energy panel on the dangers of …
Herbert Hoover was no laissez-faire president like Calvin Coolidge, however he did respect the constitution, and he never was willing to go as far as Franklin Roosevelt. He made a speech just before Roosevelt’s election to a third term, in which he made some salient points—ones we would still be wise to consider today. With Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin in power, and with a myriad of other dictators and authoritarian powers sprinkled across Europe, it was critical that the free citizens of America see the danger of handing over the …
Today is Friedrich Hayek’s birthday and it is an important year to celebrate his birth. Although the twentieth century was the century of Hayek, this year seems also to be the year of Hayek. As a country, we are belatedly remembering his warnings, and seeing the consequences of ignoring them for so long. Hayek explained many years ago the problems with centralized monetary policy, over-regulation and interference with prices. He understood the danger of subsidizing risk and loss and feeding a boom with easy money. He also understood that markets …
