Rap and economics rarely — no, never — go hand-in hand. That is
until recently when Russ Roberts, a professor of economics at
George Mason University and fellow at the Hoover Institution,
colluded with John Papola, an executive producer at Spike TV, to
create “Fear
the Boom and Bust.”
The video features two renowned economists, now deceased, rapping
their particular econ-schticks while out for a night on the town.
It was released about two weeks ago and has gotten over half a
million hits on YouTube without the help of any mainstream media
coverage.
The video features a creative representation of Frederich Hayek
and his John Maynard Keynes. The two men aren’t just any
economists but were both then and now dynamic, influential
thinkers on either side of the economic coin. Keynes, the “father
of modern macroeconomics, was born in Britain in 1883. he
advocated governments spend money to mitigate economic recessions
and depressions.
Keynes’ popularity died down in the stagflationary 1970s when
economists like Milton Friedman doubted the effectiveness of his
theories. Since the most recent economic downtown, his theories
and popularity as an economist has soared. Keynesian economics
has provided the theoretical foundation for President Obama’s
plan to ease the recession.
Austrian-born Friedrich Hayek was Keynes’ peer but believed in
the power of the free markets. Like his predecessor Adam Smith,
he noticed the free market coordinated people’s actions
spontaneously. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in Economics, was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and authored The
Road to Serfdom, one of the key books on economics and
political philosophy in the 20th century.
In “Fear the Boom and Bust,” both economists are given equal
rapping time to persuade the audience of his economic worldview.
The scene puts the two men at an economics conference. Before it
begins, Keynes invites Hayek to a night out on the town. The two
men ride around in a white limo, drinks in hand, beautiful women
by their side and begin:
We’ve been going back and forth for a century
[Keynes] I want to steer markets,
[Hayek] I want them set free
There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it
[Hayek] Blame low interest rates.
[Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
Keynes argues first:
You see it’s all about spending, hear the register
cha-ching
Circular flow, the dough is everything
So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason
We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus
season
So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head
Like I said, in the long run — we’re all dead
Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift
Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never
lift…
Haynes listens politely and when it’s his turn to give a
rebuttal he raps:
And yet it continues as a justification
For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations
You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch
Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch
Then:
Your focus on spending is pushing on thread
In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead
So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective
Prepare to get schooled in my Austrian perspective
Despite his lack of formal economic training, Papola actually
approached Roberts and asked if the two could combine their
knowledge of economics and creativity to write a rap video that
would explain, in layman’s terms, a complicated subject. “We
wanted to get people exposed to a richer set of ideas,” said
Roberts. Both men are sympathetic to Hayek — Roberts said he
“doesn’t get the hearing in the public square that Keynes gets”
— but wanted to give equal time to both men in the rap because
it’s “intellectually honest.”
The rap, which has been translated now into several languages, is
as appealing as the lyrics are educational. Pop star Ke$ha has
praised the rap on the partners’ website econstories.tv.com, calling
it “like, legit” and “really good rapping.” Teachers and
audiences alike are catching on. One teacher told him she’d
already shown the rap, with a page of printed lyrics, to 800
students. Roberts said its use in the classroom has been a
pleasant surprise. A parent informed Roberts he thought this
video now “gave him a chance to talk to his kids about economics
over dinner.” Roberts hopes to write and produce more with Papola
in the future.
After all, economics is all about the Benjamins.
