Fear the Boom and Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek - The Original Economics Rap Battle!
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it as a funny, accurate and easy primer on Keynesian versus Austrian views of the business cycle.
What it is
A rap battle in which John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek debate the causes of boom and bust, stimulus, and bailouts. It was produced by Econstories to teach the two schools of thought.
Recommended by 10 HN commenters across 10 different months, 2010 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec Artifex · 2010-06 · on “Hayek's Road to Serfdom #1 on Amazon Today”
At least Glenn Beck is attempting to educate himself/his audience. Although, he'd probably do better to show everyone this (it's educational, hilarious and very well done): [this video]
Strong rec ramanujan · 2011-08 · on “United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P ”
You take the Keynesian view. It's difficult to discuss this in more than a soundbite, but the Hayekian view is well explained by these two videos: [this video] [LINK] Well worth watching if you haven't seen them. In short, the opposite/Hayekian view contends that taxation is seizure of resources from profitable/efficient entities and redistribution towards unprofitable/inefficient entities. We saw this in extremis in the bank bailout, and more controversially in microcosm with individual redistribution. If you accept this -- that "profitable" correlates with "efficient", and conversely, though the correlation is not perfect -- then taxation is not a Robin Hood sort of thing that increases well be
Strong rec wonder_er · 2021-01 · on “No one knows how much the government can borrow”
For a hilarious and sharp rap-battle comparison of Keynes vs. Hayek (which... is basically the framework for all competing conversations on this topic) check out: Just a reminder - this is a rap-battle music video about economic policy. This is why the internet is amazing: Fear the Boom and Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek - The Original Economics Rap Battle!(Youtube)[0] [0]: [this video]
Recommends kiba · 2010-01 · on “Paul Volcker: How to Reform Our Financial System”
I think an economic hip-hop video is relevant here: "Fear the Boom and Bust" - a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem [this video]
Recommends jswinghammer · 2010-10 · on “Things Economists Agree On”
This is a Keynesian and Monetarist view of budgets. The idea is that IF you balance the budget (they often don't think this is ever a great idea anymore) then it should be balanced over the ups and downs of the business cycle. So let's say a business cycle starts up again and somehow the government doesn't spend all that extra money before it comes in and there is surplus. Now booms are followed by an inevitable bust no matter what anyone tells you when the next one starts up. Keynes argued that you should spend during busts to keep aggregate demand up and let the economy recover. So you run a deficit during this time. If you consider a balanced budget then they might argue that you should b
Recommends lionhearted · 2010-12 · on “Internet start-ups: Another bubble?”
> The single most destructive force in a crash is deflationary pressure which can quickly feed on its self and spiral out of control. Well, that's part of the Keynesian view yes. I'm personally of the belief that currency-fuckery causes crashes in the first place, and that more currency-fuckery isn't the answer [1]. But let's just say Keynes is right for now. That still doesn't explain why the healthy Clinton/Bush economies had crazy-low interest rates, which was the main cause of this mess. [1] While it has a humorous spin, the Keynes vs. Hayek rap is incredibly well informed about both positions, and it's pretty easy to follow and entertaining - [this video]
Recommends afsina · 2015-10 · on “Decline in the labor share of income in the U.S.”
What you describe is part of the Keynesian economics. There is a great deal of resources about the criticism of Keynesian economics especially from Austrian School. But i like the rap battle the most :) [this video]
Recommends marmot777 · 2016-09 · on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?”
These are important books but obviously not a comprehensive list. * John Locke's Two Treatises of Government - It's political philosophy but it's hard to understand Classical Liberalism without having read some Locke. * Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations - He and Locke are the two main guys to read for a solid start on Classical Liberalism, which is completely different than modern political liberalism. It's like having two features in an app with nearly the same name. Confusing as fuck. * E. F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered - This book will shift your perspective, useful to avoid becoming an a mindless advocate for one school of thought or another. * Marx is a