Curious George Party

Yo, Keynes! The party's well and truly over

In California last month, I came across the ''Hayek vs Keynes rap''. I was introduced to it by its inventor, Russell Roberts, a fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. The two great economists, J M Keynes and F A Hayek, conduct their arguments in rap form. You can see the videos (''Fear the Boom and Bust'' and ''The Fight of the Century: Hayek vs Keynes'') on YouTube.

Last week, the BBC pinched the idea, without attribution, and in a more staid version. In a special debate at the London School of Economics, the merits of Keynes versus Hayek were debated, with two experts on each side, but without music or rhyme. A vote was taken by getting the invited audience to shout "Yo Keynes!" or "Yo Hayek!" before and after the debate. Although it was Keynes who famously advocated "animal spirits", on this occasion it was the Hayek supporters who showed more of this quality, and shouted the louder.

Of the two art forms, the rap probably tells you more about the differences between the two men. The 45-minute debate, though a worthy effort, fell between the two stools of detailed academic exposition and popular simplification. I doubt if many emerged from what was said much the wiser, which may go to confirm Hayek's famous statement, quoted in one of the raps, that "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."

The Hayekians, led by Professor George Selgin, argued that Keynes failed to see the way busts are the natural result of booms – the "malinvestment hangover" from the party that went on too late the night before. In the rap, by the way, Keynes is depicted as the life and soul of the party, getting all the girls (not quite what happened in his real private life), but then throwing up after too much whisky. Prof Selgin pointed out that, since the current crisis began in 2007/8, absolutely tons of public money has been poured into all the banks that went wrong, and they have only gone wronger.

Whose side should one be on? There are some aspects of Keynes's ideas which are attractive. It sounds right to say "You'll never balance the budget through measures which reduce the national income". It is true that actions which are appropriate for each person individually – paying down debt when money is short, for example – could collectively be ruinous because they destroy demand. Stern, unbending financial orthodoxy could be the way to the poorhouse.

Curious George Party Supplies | Party Café

Peel the banana, cut it in half width-wise and insert the sticks part way into each banana half. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and melt them on half power, checking every 10 seconds so they don’t burn. Dip the frozen bananas in the melted chocolate till they’re coated. Dip in rice cereal or crushed nuts, if you like. Place on wax paper and put in the freezer to set for at least one hour.

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