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Keynes/Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics

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  • Keynes/Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics

    Heard about this book on the aussie network's program Newsline that interviewed the author (Clip of the interview)

    It seems like an interesting read. BW did some excerpts of the book last month,

    Part 1
    Part 2
    Part 3
    Part 4

  • #2
    Like any book mentioning Hayek (he's generally only known or referenced by the real gold standard loolah hacks) it seems to hold a considerable bias against Keynes (the only one of the two who actually did anything useful) while trying to present itself as objective but still might be worth a gander within that parametre.

    If you're looking for books on Keynesian ideas Will Hutton's "The Revolution that never was" and Robert Skidelsky's "Keynes: Return of the Master" are both good reads - in Hutton's case a serious academic overview that deals with classical arguments and explains Keynesian views within that narrative. It also reads easy for a book dealing with such complex perspectives. For Hayek I actually enjoy reading his own works, like "The Road to Serfdom". He was totally bonkers like, but it's still intellectually stimulating and helps grasp the theoretical underpinnings of his philosophy.
    Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.
    - John Stuart Mill.

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    • #3
      Hayek's Nobel speech is brilliant and very illuminating.
      "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Shek View Post
        Hayek's Nobel speech is brilliant and very illuminating.
        Wow. You're right. And beautifully succinct. A very interesting thought at the beginning about the effect of large scientific foundations in accentuating the swings of scientific fashion, too.
        I enjoy being wrong too much to change my mind.

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        • #5
          apropos to the topic, a set of dueling letters between keynes et al and hayek et al from 1932.

          http://thinkmarkets.files.wordpress....mbridgelse.pdf

          there is some irony in hayek stating, in 1932, that "we are of the opinion that many of the troubles of the world at the present time are due to imprudent borrowing and spending on the part of public authorities"--

          this at a time when the entire western industrialized world was following neo-classical economics to a T, in an attempt to slash government spending to balance budgets thrown for a loop by massively declining revenue.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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