My good friend and beloved econ sparring partner Dylan came up with the idea of reading John Maynard Keynes' General Theory and some of Hayek's writing so we can both learn more about how the other half lives.
I love this idea, and I hope it inspires Dylan to write in his blog again. I already had the book on my shelf and started reading it last night. I was immediately impressed with how bold Keynes' was in his first chapter, which consisted of a single paragraph saying that the purpose of the book is to overturn and replace the classical way of looking at economics, as the classic theory only applies to a special case. His final sentence read:
Moreover, the characteristics of the special case assumed by the classical theory happen not to be those of the economic society which we actually live, with the result that its teaching is misleading and disastrous if we attempt to apply it to the facts of experience.
Big words, and the truth is, the history of economic thought shows that Keynes was able to back them up.
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