Best Economists in History?

[SunTrader]

Keynes seriously?

The world is awash in Keynesian debt. If he were alive today he'd no doubt say, that's a good start.

ZIRP and limitless spending (here, Europe, Japan and even China) will finally implode our respective economies.

Best, please.

Not to mention any of the most recent Fed Heads. Read a little folks.

 

[cdcaveman]

Keynes was a hack! read Ludwig Von Mises and his Busines cycle based on inflationary monetary policy..

 

[Frederick Foresight]

The world is awash in Keynesian debt.

That’s not true. People who blame Keynesian economics for rising debt levels forget that the other side of the equation requires that spending should be decreased and taxes raised during good economic times. Surely anyone who has anything to say about Keynes knows that. Politicians who apply “Keynesian” principles only when it suits them (tax cuts and debt spending) have no business even saying the man’s name.

 

[schizo]

In your opinion, who is the best economist to watch, listen to, and learn from?

At risk of being hit with rotten tomatoes, I've been watching Powell, and find him to be brilliant--I learn a ton from him.

Who would you recommend to watch/read? Greenspan? Marx? Bernanke? Yellin? Lagarde?

Thx, Keith :^)

Bernanke, Yellen, Powell...3 stooges of the same stripe. They're what traders fondly call "lagging indicators". They blindly follow where stock market goes. It's their only barometer.

 

[RedDuke]

That’s not true. People who blame Keynesian economics for rising debt levels forget that the other side of the equation requires that spending should be decreased and taxes raised during good economic times. Surely anyone who has anything to say about Keynes knows that. Politicians who apply “Keynesian” principles only when it suits them (tax cuts and debt spending) have no business even saying the man’s name.

That is the issue. Everyone wants one without the other.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

That is the issue. Everyone wants one without the other.

And yet it is the most user-friendly approach to rounding the sharp edges of economic cycles. Keynes offered a good cake recipe, and now others want to blame him for the taste after they leave out key ingredients while adding to much of others.

 

[RedDuke]

And yet it is the most user-friendly approach to rounding the sharp edges of economic cycles. Keynes offered a good cake recipe, and now others want to blame him for the taste after they leave out key ingredients while adding to much of others.

Exactly. That last tax cut was abomination. it was actually a tax increase on my in coastal states. And why cut taxes during one of the largest economic expansions???

 

[SunTrader]

That’s not true. People who blame Keynesian economics for rising debt levels forget that the other side of the equation requires that spending should be decreased and taxes raised during good economic times. Surely anyone who has anything to say about Keynes knows that. Politicians who apply “Keynesian” principles only when it suits them (tax cuts and debt spending) have no business even saying the man’s name.

Which never happens. Everyone knows that but politicians (left and right these days) give lip service to cutting spending or raising taxes and just spend, spend. But truth be told Keynes in his day knew this as well but played the same parlor game. The fact that so many politicians listened to him for far too long should tell you something about the mess we are in.

But he loved low interest rates - the lower the better. The consequences in the future of this be damned. Credit gratuit.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

Which never happens. Everyone knows that but politicians (left and right these days) give lip service to cutting spending or raising taxes and just spend, spend. But truth be told Keynes in his day knew this as well but played the same parlor game. The fact that so many politicians listened to him for far too long should tell you something about the mess we are in.

But he loved low interest rates - the lower the better. The consequences in the future of this be damned. Credit gratuit.

Politicians evidently didn’t listen to Keynes; they scapegoated him. They did what they were going to do anyway, and then they delegated blame.

As for the low interest rates, from Investopedia:

“Lowering interest rates, however, does not always lead directly to economic improvement. Keynesian economists focus on lower interest rates as a solution to economic woes, but they generally try to avoid the zero-bound problem.”

So, please, let’s not overstate it, eh?

 

[speedo]

I had an economics professor in college who said "if you want ten different opinions about a thing, ask ten different economists."