Video: Economists rap, Keynes and Hayek go head to head!

"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a "dismal science." But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance." - Murray N. Rothbard

I am absolutely delighted to see this for several reasons.  First of all, this is really well done in both substance and style.  Second of all, this covers a topic that most Americans know almost nothing about!  Most Americans believe the inner workings of Keynesian, Monetarist or Austrian theories is not a requirement to understand, it becomes a moral imperative when these very same people passionately argue political viewpoints whose basis rests in the very economic theories they are not interested in learning.  

So this presents a conundrum, how can we have an educated voting electorate when politics have become so intertwined with economics?  We can either separate all political machinations from economics and remove government's hazardous role in our markets or we can strive to educate millions of people on the subject of economics.   Daunting tasks to be sure and whose solutions seem as distant as ever as political opinions grow more divisive and anger reigns supreme.  Thankfully we have a group of economists who have identified the paradox between politics and economics, they have also figured out that the reading through Keynes, Hayek, Rothbard and Mises is about as exciting as watching water boil.  So they chose a medium that most people can appreciate, music, and especially the younger generation for whom rap is easily digestible.  

Contracting thousands of pages of thought, theory and philosophy into 5 minutes of rap can appear to be insulting and a great disservice to Keynes and Hayek, but the message is clear.  Keynes is the economist de-jure and Hayek has been relegated to the shelves of cranky libertarians and amateur economists.  Any effort to bring to light the only theorists (Austrians) who were correct in predicting every crisis of the 20th century while explaining the ruinous approaches of Keynesianism must be applauded.  If this stimulates and promotes aspiring economists, political aficionados or simply curious citizens to question the status quo then the creators and writers of this video deserve a Nobel prize.  Last I checked, they have been dispensing them rather liberally.

If you want to learn the true cause of the Great Depression or why we need to improve our money or why Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke are the most important people in America, read any of the Austrian books and the answers will come.   Our public school system is hurting and can be rightfully criticized for many reasons, but purposely embracing and pushing flawed historical and economic explanations of our past is the biggest offense of all. 

If you are interested in politics then you simply owe it to yourself to become properly acquainted with the subject matter or extract yourself from the political process all together.