In the 1930s, John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of the last century, and future Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek engaged in a legendary battle of ideas about the role of the government in ending and causing economic downturns.
Last year, George Mason University economist Russ Roberts and director-producer John Papola retold that debate in the form of a rap video, “Fear the Boom and Bust,” in which Hayek and Keynes fight it out over the causes of the Great Recession.
In a new video, the battle continues: Should government juice spending via massive stimulus or “do nothing” once a recession is underway? And did World War II end the Great Depression? Whatever side you take, the video, which pulled over 500,000 views in its first week, is sure to entertain and edify.
Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Roberts to discuss the ideas behind the latest Keynes-Hayek throwdown, and what his hopes are for the project.
Approximately 7 minutes.
Edited by Jim Epstein; shot by Epstein and Joshua Swain.
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