Soros on Keynes v. Hayek. Fascinating.

[JDPriestly]

As I see it, the two sides in the current dispute have each got hold of one half of the truth. which they proclaim to be the whole truth. It was the hard right that took the initiative by arguing that the government is the cause of all our difficulties; and the so-called left, in so far as it exists, has been forced to defend the need for regulating the private sector and providing government services.

Though I am often painted as the representative of the far left — and I am certainly not free of political bias — I recognize that the other side is half right in claiming that the government is wasteful and inefficient and ought to function better.

But I also continue to cling to the other half of the truth — namely that financial markets are inherently unstable and need to be regulated.

Above all, I am profoundly worried that those who proclaim half truths as the whole truth, whether they are from the left or the right, are endangering our open society.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53885_Page3.html#ixzz1L8r823nQ

[provis99]

1. Hayek was a total whackjob.

The whole school of Austrian 'economics' is a farce. Hayek is on the same level as Ayn Rand and Leo Strauss.

[JDPriestly]

4. It is really worth reading the whole article.

The economic theories of both Hayek and Keynes changed over time. Soros points out that, at some point, Hayek's anticommunist fervor dominated his thinking. That explains so much.

I am not an economist. I just enjoy learning about it.

[xchrom]

5. +1

[orangeapple]

6. care to explain why?

I mean, pejoratives are great and all that, but the only cogent explanation I've seen for the financial crisis comes from the 'Austrian school's' observation of the role interest rates play in the economy.

It was the 'Austrians' who predicted Greenspan's rate manipulations were going to end disastrously.

Keynesians like Krugman called for the policies that eventually led to so much malinvestment and unsustainable debt.

[johnaries]

2. Excellent quote!

Above all, I am profoundly worried that those who proclaim half truths as the whole truth, whether they are from the left or the right, are endangering our open society.

So true.

[JDPriestly]

3. I love that quote.

Democrats are wrongly portrayed as socialists. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think Soros speaks for me. I like that middle ground. Yes to reasonable regulation. No to government micromanagement of business. Yes to reasonable and socially necessary sharing of wealth. Yes, at the same time, to the reasonable and socially productive private control of private property.

For example, I do not want my neighbor to set up a chemical dump within a certain number of feet of my house. But I do not want inspectors coming around checking every little thing in my house and garden.