John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was an English economist who advocated massive government spending as a remedy for the Great Depression. His writings had a major influence on Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal policy makers. Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992), an Austrian economist, was highly critical of this kind of government intervention. Hayek warned that government efforts to expand credit could lead to “booms” followed by “busts.” In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent “stimulus” bills, the Hayek versus Keynes debate is just as relevant today as it was in the 1930s.
This music video presents the old arguments in a new way. According to You Tube, it has now been viewed by over 1.3 million people. In addition to being entertaining, the video presents an accurate summary of the dueling economists’ ideas. For a detailed analysis of these ideas, see “The Brilliance of That Hayek vs. Keynes Rap” which was posted recently at the Ludwig von Mises Institute website.