Keynes Hayek
The Clash That Defined Modern Economics
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gildart Jackson
About this listen
As the stock market crash of 1929 plunged the world into turmoil, two men emerged with competing claims on how to restore the balance to economies gone awry. John Maynard Keynes, the mercurial Cambridge economist, believed that government had a duty to spend when others would not. He met his opposite in a little-known Austrian economics professor, Friedrich Hayek, who considered attempts to intervene both pointless and potentially dangerous. The battle lines thus drawn, Keynesian economics would dominate for decades and coincide with an era of unprecedented prosperity, but conservative economists and political leaders would eventually embrace and execute Hayek's contrary vision.
From their first face-to-face encounter to the heated arguments between their ardent disciples, Nicholas Wapshott here unearths the contemporary relevance of Keynes and Hayek, as present-day arguments over the virtues of the free market and government intervention rage with the same ferocity as they did in the 1930s.
©2011 Nicholas Wapshott (P)2011 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Samuelson Friedman
- The Battle Over the Free Market
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1966, two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: Debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics. Milton Friedman championed "monetarism" and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy.
-
-
Tendentious
- By Sandra Cortes on 01-18-23
-
The Fatal Conceit
- The Errors of Socialism
- By: F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Everett Sherman
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hayek gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the "errors of socialism." Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that its repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas that this century has witnessed were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the "fatal conceit" the idea that "man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes."
-
-
If more had these insights we'd be better off
- By Doug on 11-12-12
By: F. A. Hayek
-
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
- By: John Maynard Keynes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1936, Keynes’ ideas had evolved during the difficulties following World War 1 in Europe, and the US crash and the Depression of the 1920s-'30s and the misery of mass unemployment. He deplored the situation where a few individuals or companies stored massive wealth while vast numbers experienced poverty and insecurity (his alarm bells ring today!) and sought to promote initiatives where governments could intervene with social projects to keep money fluctuating.
-
-
Get the paperback
- By Brendan Clune on 02-27-19
-
The Price of Peace
- Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
- By: Zachary D. Carter
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat.
-
-
A must read for post COVID-19 crisis
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
-
The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
-
-
very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Samuelson Friedman
- The Battle Over the Free Market
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1966, two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: Debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics. Milton Friedman championed "monetarism" and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy.
-
-
Tendentious
- By Sandra Cortes on 01-18-23
-
The Fatal Conceit
- The Errors of Socialism
- By: F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Everett Sherman
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hayek gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the "errors of socialism." Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that its repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas that this century has witnessed were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the "fatal conceit" the idea that "man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes."
-
-
If more had these insights we'd be better off
- By Doug on 11-12-12
By: F. A. Hayek
-
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
- By: John Maynard Keynes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1936, Keynes’ ideas had evolved during the difficulties following World War 1 in Europe, and the US crash and the Depression of the 1920s-'30s and the misery of mass unemployment. He deplored the situation where a few individuals or companies stored massive wealth while vast numbers experienced poverty and insecurity (his alarm bells ring today!) and sought to promote initiatives where governments could intervene with social projects to keep money fluctuating.
-
-
Get the paperback
- By Brendan Clune on 02-27-19
-
The Price of Peace
- Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
- By: Zachary D. Carter
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat.
-
-
A must read for post COVID-19 crisis
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
-
The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
-
-
very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Knowledge and Decisions
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom.
-
-
Thomas Sowell's Greatest Work
- By Doug on 12-08-12
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Economics in One Lesson
- By: Henry Hazlitt
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A million-copy seller, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others. Called by H. L. Mencken “one of the few economists in history who could really write,” Henry Hazlitt achieved lasting fame for this brilliant but concise work.
-
-
The truth about Economics
- By Captain Amazing! on 02-01-03
By: Henry Hazlitt
-
Slouching Towards Utopia
- An Economic History of the Twentieth Century
- By: J. Bradford DeLong
- Narrated by: Allan Aquino
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before 1870, humanity lived in dire poverty, with a slow crawl of invention offset by a growing population. Then came a great shift: invention sprinted forward, doubling our technological capabilities each generation and utterly transforming the economy again and again. Our ancestors would have presumed we would have used such powers to build utopia. But it was not so. When 1870-2010 ended, the world instead saw global warming; economic depression, uncertainty, and inequality; and broad rejection of the status quo.
-
-
A clear but sometimes one-sided economic history
- By Anon on 11-22-22
-
21st Century Monetary Policy
- The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19
- By: Ben S. Bernanke
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A former chair of the Federal Reserve explains the transformation of one our most powerful and consequential institutions.
-
-
don't buy, horrible narration
- By Mr. Incognito on 05-18-22
By: Ben S. Bernanke
-
The Little Book of Valuation
- How to Value a Company, Pick a Stock and Profit
- By: Aswath Damodaran
- Narrated by: Matthew Boston
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Valuation is at the heart of any investment decision, whether that decision is to buy, sell, or hold. In The Little Book of Valuation, expert Aswath Damodaran explains the techniques in language that any investor can understand, so you can make better investment decisions when reviewing stock research reports and engaging in independent efforts to value and pick stocks.
-
-
not for beginners
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-21
By: Aswath Damodaran
-
When Money Dies
- The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany
- By: Adam Fergusson
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Money Dies is the classic history of what happens when a nations currency depreciates beyond recovery. In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt....
-
-
Useless details, missing the big points
- By Jean Le Lupi on 07-04-12
By: Adam Fergusson
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
America's Bank
- The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established. For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system.
-
-
Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
-
The Alchemy of Finance
- By: George Soros
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Soros, called "a superstar among money managers" by The New York Times, shares the investment strategies he uses to read the mind of the market.
-
-
Audible doesn't have full version
- By Steve on 06-17-15
By: George Soros
-
The Making of Modern Economics
- The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers, Second Edition
- By: Mark Skousen
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 19 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a bold, new account of the lives and ideas of the great economists - Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, and many others - all written by a top free-market economist and presented in an entertaining and persuasive style. Professor Mark Skousen tells a powerful story of economics with dozens of anecdotes of the great economic thinkers.
-
-
Don't Let the Author's Bias Scare You Away!
- By Jeff on 10-08-14
By: Mark Skousen
-
The Economic Weapon
- The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War
- By: Nicholas Mulder
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Economic sanctions dominate the landscape of world politics today. First developed in the early twentieth century as a way of exploiting the flows of globalization to defend liberal internationalism, their appeal is that they function as an alternative to war. This view, however, ignores the dark paradox at their core: designed to prevent war, economic sanctions are modeled on devastating techniques of warfare.
-
-
History of sanctions during the early 20th century
- By Mehdi Mollahasani on 03-05-22
By: Nicholas Mulder
-
The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right.
-
-
Why Good People Are Divided - Good for whom?
- By K. Cunningham on 09-21-12
By: Jonathan Haidt
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Battle of Bretton Woods
- John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order
- By: Benn Steil
- Narrated by: Philip Rose
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for "a new Bretton Woods" to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of 44 nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century's second great war, has become shorthand for enlightened globalization.
-
-
Is this a mystery, a history or an economics book?
- By Neil on 04-23-13
By: Benn Steil
-
Grand Pursuit
- The Story of Economic Genius
- By: Sylvia Nasar
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Anne Twomey
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sweeping narrative, the author of the mega-bestseller A Beautiful Mind takes us on a journey through modern history with the men and women who changed the lives of every single person on the planet. It’s the epic story of the making of modern economics, and of how it rescued mankind from squalor and deprivation by placing its material fate in its own hands rather than in Fate. Nasar’s account begins with Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew observing and publishing the condition of the poor majority in mid nineteenth-century London, the richest and most glittering place in the world.
-
-
A Beautiful Grand Pursuit
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Sylvia Nasar
-
And the Weak Suffer What They Must?
- Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future
- By: Yanis Varoufakis
- Narrated by: Yanis Varoufakis, Leighton Pugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister, and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis.
-
-
interesting perspective
- By Jamila on 07-12-20
By: Yanis Varoufakis
-
The Money Makers
- How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace
- By: Eric Rauchway
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shortly after arriving in the White House in early 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard. His opponents thought his decision unwise at best and ruinous at worst. But they could not have been more wrong. With The Money Makers, Eric Rauchway tells the absorbing story of how FDR and his advisors pulled the levers of monetary policy to save the domestic economy and propel the United States to unprecedented prosperity and superpower status.
-
-
Excellent over view and easily understandable
- By L. Ford Ballard, Jr. on 01-15-19
By: Eric Rauchway
-
The New Road to Serfdom
- A Letter of Warning to America
- By: Daniel Hannan
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The New Road to Serfdom, British conservative Daniel Hannan argues forcefully and passionately that Americans must not allow Barack Obama to take us down the road to EU-style social democracy. Instead, he pleads with Americans not to abandon the founding principles that made their country a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world.
-
-
An excellent read from a brilliant man...
- By Martin on 10-30-11
By: Daniel Hannan
-
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
- By: Richard Hofstadter, Sean Wilentz - foreward
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs. In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence - and derail - the larger agendas of a political party.
-
-
Written in the 50s and 60s...
- By Kindle Customer on 11-06-19
By: Richard Hofstadter, and others
-
The Battle of Bretton Woods
- John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order
- By: Benn Steil
- Narrated by: Philip Rose
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for "a new Bretton Woods" to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of 44 nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century's second great war, has become shorthand for enlightened globalization.
-
-
Is this a mystery, a history or an economics book?
- By Neil on 04-23-13
By: Benn Steil
-
Grand Pursuit
- The Story of Economic Genius
- By: Sylvia Nasar
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Anne Twomey
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sweeping narrative, the author of the mega-bestseller A Beautiful Mind takes us on a journey through modern history with the men and women who changed the lives of every single person on the planet. It’s the epic story of the making of modern economics, and of how it rescued mankind from squalor and deprivation by placing its material fate in its own hands rather than in Fate. Nasar’s account begins with Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew observing and publishing the condition of the poor majority in mid nineteenth-century London, the richest and most glittering place in the world.
-
-
A Beautiful Grand Pursuit
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Sylvia Nasar
-
And the Weak Suffer What They Must?
- Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future
- By: Yanis Varoufakis
- Narrated by: Yanis Varoufakis, Leighton Pugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister, and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis.
-
-
interesting perspective
- By Jamila on 07-12-20
By: Yanis Varoufakis
-
The Money Makers
- How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace
- By: Eric Rauchway
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shortly after arriving in the White House in early 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard. His opponents thought his decision unwise at best and ruinous at worst. But they could not have been more wrong. With The Money Makers, Eric Rauchway tells the absorbing story of how FDR and his advisors pulled the levers of monetary policy to save the domestic economy and propel the United States to unprecedented prosperity and superpower status.
-
-
Excellent over view and easily understandable
- By L. Ford Ballard, Jr. on 01-15-19
By: Eric Rauchway
-
The New Road to Serfdom
- A Letter of Warning to America
- By: Daniel Hannan
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The New Road to Serfdom, British conservative Daniel Hannan argues forcefully and passionately that Americans must not allow Barack Obama to take us down the road to EU-style social democracy. Instead, he pleads with Americans not to abandon the founding principles that made their country a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world.
-
-
An excellent read from a brilliant man...
- By Martin on 10-30-11
By: Daniel Hannan
-
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
- By: Richard Hofstadter, Sean Wilentz - foreward
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs. In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence - and derail - the larger agendas of a political party.
-
-
Written in the 50s and 60s...
- By Kindle Customer on 11-06-19
By: Richard Hofstadter, and others
-
America's Bank
- The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established. For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system.
-
-
Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
-
Money
- The Unauthorized Biography
- By: Felix Martin
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From ancient currency to Adam Smith, from the gold standard to shadow banking and the Great Recession: a sweeping historical epic that traces the development and evolution of one of humankind’s greatest inventions.
-
-
Difficult to imagine how it could be worse
- By J. M. Batista on 09-19-17
By: Felix Martin
-
JFK and the Reagan Revolution
- A Secret History of American Prosperity
- By: Lawrence Kudlow, Brian Domitrovic
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who invented supply-side economics - the idea that cutting tax rates can result in more growth, more prosperity at all income levels, and even more tax revenue flowing into the IRS? Most people would credit the economic team that advised Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But in fact supply-side economics came of age two decades earlier. And the first president who embraced it was one of the biggest icons of the Democratic Party - John F. Kennedy.
-
-
Turn the speed up to 1 1/2 to 2 times
- By B. MIDDLETON on 09-15-16
By: Lawrence Kudlow, and others
-
The Price of Greatness
- By: Jay Cost
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the history of American politics, there are few stories as enigmatic as that of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison's bitterly personal falling out. Together they helped bring the Constitution into being, yet soon after the new republic was born, they broke over the meaning of its founding document. Hamilton emphasized economic growth; Madison the importance of republican principles. Author Jay Cost is the first to argue that both men were right - and that their quarrel reveals a fundamental paradox at the heart of the American experiment.
-
-
Principles in Tension
- By William Ehrich on 06-13-18
By: Jay Cost
-
Why Save the Bankers?
- And Other Essays on Our Economic and Political Crisis
- By: Thomas Piketty, Seth Ackerman - translator
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty's work has proved that unfettered markets lead to increasing inequality. Without meaningful regulation, capitalist economies will concentrate wealth in an ever smaller number of hands. Armed with this knowledge, democratic societies face a defining challenge: fending off a new aristocracy. For years Piketty has wrestled with this problem in his monthly newspaper column, which pierces the surface of current events to reveal the economic forces underneath.
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
-
Adam Smith
- Father of Economics
- By: Jesse Norman
- Narrated by: Jesse Norman
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A dazzlingly original account of the life and thought of Adam Smith, the greatest economist of all time. In Adam Smith, political philosopher Jesse Norman dispels the myths and caricatures, and provides a far more complex portrait of the man. Offering a highly engaging account of Smith's life and times, Norman explores his work as a whole and traces his influence over two centuries to the present day. Finally, he shows how a proper understanding of Smith can help us address the problems of modern capitalism.
-
-
Most excellent book!
- By Harish G. Naik on 03-02-19
By: Jesse Norman
-
American Default
- The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold
- By: Sebastian Edwards
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American economy is strong in large part because nobody believes that America would ever default on its debt. Yet in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt did just that, when in a bid to pull the country out of depression, he depreciated the US dollar in relation to gold, effectively annulling all debt contracts. American Default is the story of this forgotten chapter in America's history.
-
-
Superb
- By Jean on 12-08-18
-
The Great Degeneration
- How Institutions Decay and Economies Die
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Paul Slack
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West’s once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.
-
-
Superb as always!
- By Ivanhoe on 08-28-17
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Ill Fares the Land
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Ill Fares The Land, Tony Judt, one of our leading historians and thinkers, reveals how we have arrived at our present dangerously confused moment. Judt masterfully crystallizes what we've all been feeling into a way to think our way into, and thus out of, our great collective dis-ease about the current state of things.
-
-
Blah, Blah, Blah.
- By Michael on 07-15-10
By: Tony Judt
-
A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021
- By: Alan S. Blinder
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan Blinder, one of the world's most influential economists and one of the field's best writers, draws on his deep firsthand experience to provide an authoritative account of sixty years of monetary and fiscal policy in the United States. Spanning twelve presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden, and eight Federal Reserve chairs, from William McChesney Martin to Jerome Powell, this is an insider's story of macroeconomic policy that hasn't been told before—one that is a pleasure to listen to, and as interesting as it is important.
-
-
Listen for Nixon's Sake
- By Tricia on 10-26-22
By: Alan S. Blinder
-
The American Political Tradition
- And the Men Who Made it
- By: Richard Hofstadter, Christopher Lasch - foreword
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American Political Tradition is one of the most influential and widely read historical volumes of our time. First published in 1948, its elegance, passion, and iconoclastic erudition laid the groundwork for a totally new understanding of the American past. By writing a "kind of intellectual history of the assumptions behind American politics", Richard Hofstadter changed the way Americans understand the relationship between power and ideas in their national experience. Hofstadter was able to articulate, in a single work, a historical vision that inspired and shaped an entire generation.
By: Richard Hofstadter, and others
-
Over Here
- The First World War and American Society
- By: David M. Kennedy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War of 1914-1918 confronted the United States with one of the most wrenching crises in the nation's history. It also left a residue of disruption and disillusion that spawned an even more ruinous conflict scarcely a generation later. Over Here is the single most comprehensive discussion of the impact of World War I on American society.
-
-
Good HISTORY AWFUL READING
- By Magyar on 02-05-20
By: David M. Kennedy
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
-
-
very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Samuelson Friedman
- The Battle Over the Free Market
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1966, two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: Debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics. Milton Friedman championed "monetarism" and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy.
-
-
Tendentious
- By Sandra Cortes on 01-18-23
-
The Road to Serfdom, the Definitive Edition
- Text and Documents
- By: F. A. Hayek, Bruce Caldwell - editor
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and the public for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production.
-
-
Hayek's case for individualism over collectivism
- By Wayne on 10-27-18
By: F. A. Hayek, and others
-
The Big Three in Economics
- Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes
- By: Mark Skousen
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Big Three in Economics reveals the battle of ideas among the three most influential economists in world history: Adam Smith, representing laissez faire; Karl Marx, reflecting the radical socialist model; and John Maynard Keynes, symbolizing big government and the welfare state. History comes alive in this fascinating story of opposing views that continue to play a fundamental role in today's politics and economics.
-
-
Cut and paste
- By Jan on 05-25-07
By: Mark Skousen
-
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
- By: John Maynard Keynes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1936, Keynes’ ideas had evolved during the difficulties following World War 1 in Europe, and the US crash and the Depression of the 1920s-'30s and the misery of mass unemployment. He deplored the situation where a few individuals or companies stored massive wealth while vast numbers experienced poverty and insecurity (his alarm bells ring today!) and sought to promote initiatives where governments could intervene with social projects to keep money fluctuating.
-
-
Get the paperback
- By Brendan Clune on 02-27-19
-
The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
-
-
very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Samuelson Friedman
- The Battle Over the Free Market
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1966, two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: Debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics. Milton Friedman championed "monetarism" and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy.
-
-
Tendentious
- By Sandra Cortes on 01-18-23
-
The Road to Serfdom, the Definitive Edition
- Text and Documents
- By: F. A. Hayek, Bruce Caldwell - editor
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and the public for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production.
-
-
Hayek's case for individualism over collectivism
- By Wayne on 10-27-18
By: F. A. Hayek, and others
-
The Big Three in Economics
- Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes
- By: Mark Skousen
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Big Three in Economics reveals the battle of ideas among the three most influential economists in world history: Adam Smith, representing laissez faire; Karl Marx, reflecting the radical socialist model; and John Maynard Keynes, symbolizing big government and the welfare state. History comes alive in this fascinating story of opposing views that continue to play a fundamental role in today's politics and economics.
-
-
Cut and paste
- By Jan on 05-25-07
By: Mark Skousen
-
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
- By: John Maynard Keynes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1936, Keynes’ ideas had evolved during the difficulties following World War 1 in Europe, and the US crash and the Depression of the 1920s-'30s and the misery of mass unemployment. He deplored the situation where a few individuals or companies stored massive wealth while vast numbers experienced poverty and insecurity (his alarm bells ring today!) and sought to promote initiatives where governments could intervene with social projects to keep money fluctuating.
-
-
Get the paperback
- By Brendan Clune on 02-27-19
-
Keynes Vs. Hayek
- By: Lord Robert Skidelsky, George Selgin, Duncan Weldon, and others
- Narrated by: Paul Mason
- Length: 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What caused the financial mess we're in? And how do we get out of it? Two of the great economic thinkers of the 20th century had sharply contrasting views. John Maynard Keynes believed that government spending could create employment and longer-term growth. His contemporary and rival Friedrich Hayek believed that investments have to be based on real savings rather than increased public spending or artificially low interest rates. Keynes's biographer, Professor Lord Skidelsky, takes on modern-day followers of Hayek in a debate.
-
-
No more a debate than “shana,shana,shana.
- By Junkyard Dog on 08-05-18
By: Lord Robert Skidelsky, and others
-
The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order
- America and the World in the Free Market Era
- By: Gary Gerstle
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To be sure, neoliberalism has contributed to a number of alarming trends, not least of which has been a massive growth in income inequality. Yet as the eminent historian Gary Gerstle argues in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order, these indictments fail to reckon with the full contours of what neoliberalism was and why its worldview had such persuasive hold on both the right and the left for three decades.
-
-
Cursory, unoriginal, class-blind
- By A Reviewer on 10-24-22
By: Gary Gerstle
-
The Story of Silver
- How the White Metal Shaped America and the Modern World
- By: William L. Silber
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of silver's transformation from soft money during the 19th century to hard asset today, and how manipulations of the white metal by American president Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s and by the richest man in the world, Texas oil baron Nelson Bunker Hunt, during the 1970s altered the course of American and world history. FDR pumped up the price of silver to help jump start the US economy during the Great Depression, but this move weakened China, which was then on the silver standard, and facilitated Japan's rise to power before World War II.
-
-
A Detailed Account of Silver's Monetary History
- By Brandy Crosby on 01-11-21
-
The History of Money
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From primitive man's cowrie shells to the electronic cash card, from the markets of Timbuktu to the New York Stock Exchange, The History of Money explores how money and the myriad forms of exchange have affected humanity, and how they will continue to shape all aspects of our lives--economic, political, and personal.
-
-
Interesting annecdotes, but very biased reporting
- By Dean on 10-13-11
By: Jack Weatherford
-
Capitalism and Freedom, Fortieth Anniversary Edition
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose D. Friedman, Grover Gardner - prologue
- Narrated by: Michael Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of his immensely influential economic philosophy - one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom.
-
-
A poor execution of a great book.
- By Mike S. on 01-25-18
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Debt - Updated and Expanded
- The First 5,000 Years
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
-
-
Transformative to the point of being revolutionary
- By James C. Samans on 08-14-16
By: David Graeber
What listeners say about Keynes Hayek
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-09-18
Authors bias spoils an interesting story.
This is a promising book about a pivotal ideological difference on economics, the role of the state and individual freedom. Unfortunately the promise is hollowed by an author unable to hide his own ideology and preference.
Objectivity by the author would have made for a far better book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Munair
- 09-03-21
Riveting
This is how economics should be taught: Reflecting on the history of choices made and their impacts really helps us to understand various economic terms and scenarios.
The author created a masterful presentation on capitalism, its value, and its vulnerability.
Gilbert Jackson delivered the message with a perfect accent.
If there were any weaknesses in the presentation of Hayek and Keynes, it would be that there could have been more material covering Hayek’s vision for economics and society. However, it is understandable that this cannot be the case since there are no cases in history of societies implementing anything truly close to what Hayek proposed.
Lastly, character-wise, in spite of the author’s desire to present a balanced account of both men, readers will put two and two together and conclude that Keynes was a great man and Hayek was not.
[Even though the author calls them both “exceptional men”.]
I found this book very enlightening and I wish everyone had the time to enjoy it. It’s fundamental to understanding our present economic and social circumstances.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- George
- 10-04-12
Good expo of 20th century economics and politics
This book does a good job of covering the battle between the theories of Keynes and Hayek, and reveals some insights into our 20th century presidents' economic ideas, successes and failures.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark
- 03-15-16
A good insight to the history of fiscal policy
Good insights to fiscal policy that will get you reaching for more books on the matter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marc Grosz
- 07-29-16
Must listen
Any additional comments?
The way the author chose to present the information I found to be the best part of the book. I felt it was quite fair to both sides and stayed as factual as possible considering hayek vs keynes is like an economic religious war (which the author touched on even). By presenting the data in the way chosen, it helps explain why Keynesianism took hold as well as it did and why it came to be. It also did a good job going a little further in how Keynes and Hayek influenced the economic debate and influence other economists that have carried on the "war". Recommend to all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Studio Royale
- 07-06-20
Well done...
I’ve spent more than my share of time reading and studying economics and public policy of the 20th century. This book caught hold of me in a way that I have never experienced before. The fight for the mind of public policy thinkers is on display with this book. This is a fabulous political and economic history lesson that will push me on to read more and is the jolt that I needed in the age of the great pandemic. Thank you!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 03-11-24
A balanced as can be
From a 10,000 foot view, this is balanced. In terms of whether we defend a market capitalist system or revert to communism or mercantilist policies, both Keynes and Hayek stand in the market capitalist camp. However, of the two, it is to Keynes we owe the most for maintaining the status quo. Hayek’s thoughts aren’t thrown out either, but there impact on our current system are limited since politicians merely give lip service to his policy positions. Personally, I don’t think most Americans would truly be able to stomach what Hayek truly wanted. He’s about as far out there as Noam Chomsky’s Anarcho Syndicalism. Anyway, the books is good for its historical overview, and places both men in their context. If you want to know their economic ideas alone, read their writings.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anand
- 03-17-12
An unbiased evaluation of both the major economist
** Disclaimer - Am a classical economist and prefer Austrian economics to Keynes remedies. ***
Unlike many economist authors, this author is unbiased and lays it out factually.
His ability to separate opinion from facts makes the book easy to digest. Hats off to the author.
His first brilliant assessment that Keynes talks about Macro while Hayek talks about Micro economics sets the stage and expectations that the two shall never compete on an equal platform.
Next, he walks us through each personal life, although i feel he explored and criticized Hayek's personal life more than Keynes.
The success of Keynes and how governments devoured his advice of intervention is elucidated clearly. I can now see how the world fell into his enthrall (and his ability of public speak).
Hayek's greatest weakness and the classical school's weakness was its extreme insistence on laissez faire to the point of being cruel.
Add to that, Hayek's inability as a public speaker. If probably Hayek were like President Reagan, we would have seen a Hayekian world now. Sadly Keynes was a better preacher.
The first Great conflict between Hayek and Keynes as criticism of Keynes's first book makes for interesting reading, anecdotally.
Keynesian economics assumes that the economy is a fragile thing, one that involves constant tweaking by the State. This automatically assumes that entrepreneurship is guided by the hand of the State. Keynes does not explain business cycles and why they happen. Instead he talks about how to spend yourself out of recession. However, the Great Depression was becoming a past thing by 1936 as the author noted, before keynes remedies were fully applied.
Hayek assumes that the economy is a living, breathing sentient being which can find its own path through the judgements and decisions of millions of entrepreneurs who make them. Much like the millions of cells in a human body.
Hayek proves that State intervention skews up the investment judgements made by individual investors and thus forces them to make bad judgements.
That may be true, but when an economy is in a slump, Hayek prescribes doom and despair to Keynes's optimistic approach.
In short, a book worth reading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hyrum
- 05-21-12
Solid history, weak discussion of issues
What made the experience of listening to Keynes Hayek the most enjoyable?
I was primarily interested in a discussion of the economic issues, where the economists agreed, where they disagreed, and how Hayek and Keynes changed their opinions over time.The book assumed more knowledge of the issues than I have, and while, making the positions of the economists clear, it did not help me understand the reasoning behind their conclusions. Nor did I get a clear understanding of how - and why- their positions changed over time.On the other hand, the biographies of not only Hayek and Keynes, but of their contemporaries - and the setting of their lives in the events of their times - were fascinating. I was especially impressed with the portrayal of Herbert Spencer, the Webbs, and Alfred Lord Marshall. The portrayal of the Austrian school was weaker but still made profitable listening.This work was both enjoyable and profitable. I expect to listen to it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-02-22
Great Read!
This is an excellent summation. I'm sure I'll be referencing this text for many years.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!