I'm continuing to read Nicholas Wapshott's "Keynes Hayek." As I said,
it's excellent. But that's true in a very specific sense: Wapshott
presents all sorts of interesting facts (as noted by Tyler Cowen on
the back cover). However, I get the feeling that he leans toward Hayek
vis-à-vis Keynes. More importantly, he's not an economist. He didn't
read Keynes' THE GENERAL THEORY, even the easy "philosophical" part at
the end. The latter seems quite relevant to all of this Keynes vs.
Hayek stuff about "freedom." Strangely, he also didn't read Friedman's
CAPITALISM AND FREEDOM or even FREE TO CHOOSE. He also makes some
simple economic mistakes.
Here are a few of his interesting facts: Milton Friedman started out
as a "socialist" (page 248) who seems to have been converted by his
wife Rose, under the influence of the economist Aaron Director. On the
other hand, Friedman once said that "Nixon was the most socialist of
the presidents of the United States in the twentieth century." (page
242). Also, they late conservative columnist William Safire once
referred to free-markeeters as "laissez-fairies." ("Laissez-fairies of
the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your Keynes." page 243).
--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your
own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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