Keynes & Hayek

EconStories.tv has produced some really awesome music videos on the Plato and Aristotle of modern econ.

It's been famously said that the history of philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle, and if it hasn't been said that modern free-market econ is a series of footnotes to Keynes and Hayek, I'd like to say it.  Or something like it.

 Making economics sexy again (?), these videos are great good fun.  My friend Touchstone observes:

Who are these guys making these??? It's really quite a find. The music is good, well produced, the video is a bit repetitive, but has slick production values. And the lyrics, the actual "argument" is so smart, and yet so well woven in the music/rap.

Lots of little "Easter Eggs" in there, too. Note the "coach" in Hayek's corner with a jacket with the name "Mises" on the back - heh. And I'm pretty sure that the security guard at the beginning is Duke's Mike Munger, famous libertarian economist (definitely a Hayek guy).

This is one of those "religious-style" debates where you just expect the video to be blatantly and boringly one-sided. I think the "pro-Hayek" bias is there in lots of clues as to the position of the makers (I've never been to econstories.tv but am going to go check it out after this), but the video itself is admirably balanced and "true to each side". Neither side is caricatured in its claims and beliefs, and both Hayek's and Keyne's arguments (set to rap music no less) are familiar and fair to both of these great economists.

It just seems like a lot of smart, quality work, for... what? I guess I don't care, really. I'll just appreciate cool gems where I find them.

If you like the videos, also check out Cafe Hayek.

The second one in the series has embedding disabled, but here's a link.  It's totally worth it.