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.
Keynes, a British economist in the early half of the twentieth century, advocated government intervention, over-regulation, and spending to boost the economy. Hayek, an Austrian-born twentieth century economist, defended free-market capitalism against these assertions, arguing that the economy cannot be forced in one direction or another based upon basic algorithms.
Keynes and Hayek obviously butted heads, but they might be surprised to see themselves duking it out in the boxing ring or busting moves that would make Usher blush. Nevertheless, the beats in this video reflect the ongoing battle between the two schools of thought.
Unfortunately for those of us who experienced the failure of President Obama’s Keynesian stimulus plan to spur recovery after the “Great Recession,” Keynes and Hayek never agreed on how best to reverse an economic downturn. As Hayek laments in the video, “We brought out the shovels but we’re still in a ditch…And still digging, don’t you think it’s time for a switch?”
We sure do. Watch the video and decide for yourself whether the U.S. is currently on the road to serfdom or the path to prosperity as a result of recent economic policies.
What do you think of the video? Which economic school of thought do you think wins out? Join in with a comment below!
