“Fear the Boom and Bust” a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem

Fear the boom and bust

Check out this brilliantly made rap song by creative director John Papola and creative economist Russ Roberts on the philosophies of Keynes and Hayek on what they think are the causes and solutions to the boom bust cycle in an economy.

As introduced by the creators, in this song ‘John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century, come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there’s a “boom and bust” cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it.’

The main chorus line ‘we’ve been going back and forth for centuries..I want to steer markets (Keynes), I want them set free (Hayek) is pretty indicative of the point of disagreement between the two economists.

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The opinions expressed in this essay are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CCS.