Keynes eliminated economic theory's ancient role as spoilsport for inflationist and statist schemes, leading a new generation of economists on to academic power and to political pelf and privilege.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In the late 1960s, the New Classical economists saw the same weaknesses in the microfoundations of macroeconomics that have motivated me. They hated its lack of rigor. And they sacked it.
Keynesian modelling relies on marginal propensity to consume and marginal propensity to invest. The idea that if we give more money to the poor, they have a propensity to consume that's much higher than the wealthy, though I wish they would talk to my wife about that; she seems to have a propensity to consume.
In order to conquer the world of economics with his new theory, it was critical for Keynes to destroy his rivals within Cambridge itself. In his mind, he who controlled Cambridge controlled the world.
Keynesian economics has always been needed.
In the '30s, the Keynesian stuff worked at least in the sense that you could print money without inflation because there was all this productivity growth happening. That's not going to work today.
Keynes was a very good economist. He was brilliant. He had wonderful insights. His work has inspired me many times.
There is one good thing about Marx: he was not a Keynesian.
Economists create their own worlds. We're like little gods with our artificial economics, wanting to see what happens.
Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
Economics has paid a terrible price for its dalliances with the Keynesian and neoclassical theories.