Fight of the Century – EconStories – letras

[Keynes]John Maynard Keynes[Hayek]F. A. Hayek[Keynes]Round Two[Hayek]Round 2. 0[Keynes]Same economists. Same beliefs[Hayek]New microphones[Keynes]New MustachesLet’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go[Keynes]Here we are, peace out Great RecessionThanks to me, as you see, we’re not in a depressionRecovery, destiny, if you follow my lessonLord Keynes, here I come, line up for the procession[Hayek]We brought out the shovelsAnd we’re still in a ditch and still diggingDon’t you think it’s time for a switch from the hair of the dog?Friend the party is over, the long run is here, it’s time to get sober[Keynes]Are you kidding?My cure works perfectly fineHave a look, the Great Recession ended back in ’09I deserve credit, things would’ve been worseAll the estimates prove it, I’ll quote chapter and verse[Hayek]The econometricians, they’re ever so piousAre they doing real science or just confirming their bias?Their Keynesian models are tidy and neatBut that top-down approach is a fatal conceit[Hook: Chairman Ref]Which way should we chose? More bottom-up or more top-down?The fight continues. Keynes and Hayek, Second RoundIt’s time to weigh in. More from the top or from the ground?Let’s listen to the greats, Keynes and Hayek throwin’ down[Keynes]We could’ve done better had we only spent moreToo bad that only happens when there’s a world warYou can carp all you want about stats and regressionDo you deny Wwii cut short The Depression?[Hayek]WowOne data point and you’re jumping for joyThe last time I checked, wars only destroyThere was no multiplier, consumption just shrankAs we used scarce resources for every new tankPretty perverse to call that prosperityRation meat, ration butter, a life of austerityWhen that war spending ended your friends cried disasterYet the economy thrived and grew faster[Keynes]You too only see what you want to seeThe spending of war clearly goosed GdpUnemployment was over, almost down to zeroThat’s why I’m the master, that’s why I’m the hero[Hayek]Creating employment’s a straightforward craftWhen the nation’s at war and there’s a draftIf every worker were staffed in the army and fleetWe’d have full employment… and nothin’ to eat[Hook: Chairman Ref][Hayek]Jobs are a means, not the ends in themselvesPeople work to live better, to put food on the shelvesReal growth means production of what people demandThat’s entrepreneurship, not your central plan[Keynes]My solution is simple, and easy to handleIt’s spending that matters, why’s that such a scandal?Money sloshes through the pipes and the sluicesRevitalizing the economies juicesIt’s just like an engine that’s stalled and gone darkTo bring it to life we need a quick sparkSpending’s the life blood that gets the flow goingWhere it goes doesn’t matter – just get spending flowing![Hayek]You see slack in some sectors as a general glutBut some sectors are healthy, only some in a rutSo spending’s not free, that’s the heart of the matterToo much gets wasted as cronies get fatterThe economy’s not a car, there’s no engine to stallNo expert can fix it, there’s no « it » at allThe economy’s us, we don’t need a mechanicPut away the wrenches, the economy’s organic[Hook: Chairman Ref][Keynes]So what would you do to help those unemployed?This is the question you seem to avoidWhen we’re in a mess, would you have us just wait?Doing nothing until markets equilibrate?[Hayek]I don’t wanna do nothing, there’s plenty to do!The question I ponder is: Who plans for whom?Do I plan for myself, or leave it to you?I want plans by the many, not by the fewLet’s not repeat what created our troublesI want real growth, not a series of bubblesStop bailing out losersLet prices workIf we don’t try to steer themThey won’t go berserk[Keynes]C’mon! Are you kidding?Don’t Wall Streets gyrations challenge your worldview of self-regulation?Even you must admit that the lesson we’ve learned isMore oversight’s needed or else we’ll get burned[Hayek]Oversight? The government’s long been in bedWith those Wall Street exec’s and the firms that they bledCapitalism’s about profit and lossYou bail out the losers, there’s no end to the costThe lesson I’ve learned: it’s how little we knowThe world is complex, not some circular flowThe economy’s not a class you can master in collegeTo think otherwise is the pretense of knowledge[Keynes]You get on your high horse, and you’re off to the racesI look at the world on a case-by-case basisWhen people are suffering I roll up my sleeveAnd do what I can do to cure our diseaseThe future’s uncertain, our outlooks are frailThat’s why free markets are so prone to failIn a volatile world, we need more discretionSo state intervention can counter depression[Hayek]People aren’t chess men you move on a board at your whimTheir dreams and desires ignoredWith political incentives, discretion’s a jokeThose dials your twisting? Just mirrors and smokeWe need stable rules and real market pricesSo prosperity emerges and cuts short the crisisGive us a chance so we can discover the most valuable ways to serve one another