"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water." - John W. Gardner
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Keynes v. Hayek Rap Battle, Part II
The EconStories guys do it again.
Let's not forget the original, though.
Great work, great teaching tools, great nerdy fun all around.
The assumption that economic growth equals happiness and satisfaction is coming to an ugly end.
Seems that western civilization, (going back to the Roman and Greek) has a tendency of pursuing, let it be pride, money , speed, adventure. This tendency is now again biting back.
Pursuing, without moral constraint or itself becoming the end, is dangerous to the pursuer himself.
The problem has always been that government seeks the most expedient measure to assuage voter angst. The result is the deferred reckoning that Keynes' interventionist paradigm invites because of over reliance on it as the pancea to all economic stumbles. On the flip side, completely unrestrained markets advocated by Hayek tend to allow abusive behavior to thrive unless self-restraint is exercised. The sad thing is government lacks the common sense or continuity necessary to use the competing ideas to moderate the excesses of the other and we are then subjected to widely shifting policy making by the idiots in Washington. Just once I wish we had responsible social drinkers in government, the one's who can go to a party and ask for water or coffee after consuming two cocktails, drive home sober and wake up without a hangover.
The assumption that economic growth equals happiness and satisfaction is coming to an ugly end.
ReplyDeleteSeems that western civilization, (going back to the Roman and Greek) has a tendency of pursuing, let it be pride, money , speed, adventure. This tendency is now again biting back.
Pursuing, without moral constraint or itself becoming the end, is dangerous to the pursuer himself.
The problem has always been that government seeks the most expedient measure to assuage voter angst. The result is the deferred reckoning that Keynes' interventionist paradigm invites because of over reliance on it as the pancea to all economic stumbles. On the flip side, completely unrestrained markets advocated by Hayek tend to allow abusive behavior to thrive unless self-restraint is exercised. The sad thing is government lacks the common sense or continuity necessary to use the competing ideas to moderate the excesses of the other and we are then subjected to widely shifting policy making by the idiots in Washington. Just once I wish we had responsible social drinkers in government, the one's who can go to a party and ask for water or coffee after consuming two cocktails, drive home sober and wake up without a hangover.
ReplyDeleteI always thought the lyrics were super clever.
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