& BRIEFLY NOTED: FOR 2022-02-18 Fr: I must say that the von Hayekian view here has always struck me as completely bonkers, and I don’t think that the very sharp Nicholas Wapshot does a good job here at characterizing it....Friedman thinks that a central bank should use the tools at its disposal... to keep shocks from disrupting the smooth total flow of purchasing power in the economy.... That, Friedman claims, is a “neutral”—a pro-free-market—monetary policy. Von Hayek says… nothing coherent...
What about Milton? His fanfic for The Holy Bible defined our modern vision of heaven and hell. It's harder to say with all the Jane Austen fanfic. It defined a new genre, but no author has ever equaled or surpassed the original. Economics is similar. There is a lot of Adam Smith fanfic, but not much in the way of great Adam Smith fanfic.
Another example to consider for the difficulty in adapting JRRT`s Second Age is the last season of the Game of Thrones. Even with George Martin around to consult the last season was a huge miss.
I couldn't get past the first episode of Wheel of Time. I'm still angry about the time I wasted reading the first several books. "Well, if I keep reading something will happen, right?"
My understanding -- and I'm happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong -- is that after encountering Keynes, Hayek shifted away from technical economics and focused more on political theory & intellectual history (Constitution of Liberty etc.). I had always assumed he did this because he felt on some level he couldn't compete. Again, happy to be corrected if wrong.
I can't seem to get people to read Hayek on Hayek, which gives his views just after the war ended. Somewhere, I have read letters between Hayek and Henry Simons. The two men became very close during the 1930s, and remained close until Simons died, a fact which Hayek was devastated by. In one letter I can't find, Simons talked to someone about Hayek and said Hayek had completely changed his mind on deflation in the mid 1930s. Hayek praised Simons books which many considered recomended too much government. I'm not a scholar and cant get at the letters of Henry Simons. Its also a fact that the only policies Michael Oakeshott actually endorsed were those of Henry Simons. People like Coase think Henry Simons was insane. Oddly, Richard Rorty is one of the few people who get Oakeshott and Hayek right philosophically
"Hayek on Hayek: An Autobiographical Dialogue
"MR. MERRIAM: Is the Federal Reserve Bank on the road to serfdom? MR. HAYEK: They make mistakes. MR. MERRIAM: In principle, I mean? MR. HAYEK: No. That the monetary system must be under central control has never, to my mind, been denied by any sensible person. It is part of that framework within which competition can work. MR. MERRIAM: You did not hear the debate on the adoption of the Federal Reserve Bank Board bill. MR. HAYEK: I have studied the history of the Federal Reserve System in very great detail. MR. MERRIAM: You did not hear it denounced, then, as socialistic in character? MR. HAYEK: Do not make me responsible for all the nonsense which has ever been talked about by anybody."
Re: Hayek
Did I read this right?
"the banks must not lend more or less than has been deposited with them as savings."
MMMM?? When depositors withdraw, the bank calls loans????
Interesting.
Fanfic: just now Ada Palmer is talking about Orlando Furioso at Boskone
What about Milton? His fanfic for The Holy Bible defined our modern vision of heaven and hell. It's harder to say with all the Jane Austen fanfic. It defined a new genre, but no author has ever equaled or surpassed the original. Economics is similar. There is a lot of Adam Smith fanfic, but not much in the way of great Adam Smith fanfic.
Come for the economics, stay for the SFF.
Another example to consider for the difficulty in adapting JRRT`s Second Age is the last season of the Game of Thrones. Even with George Martin around to consult the last season was a huge miss.
I couldn't get past the first episode of Wheel of Time. I'm still angry about the time I wasted reading the first several books. "Well, if I keep reading something will happen, right?"
My understanding -- and I'm happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong -- is that after encountering Keynes, Hayek shifted away from technical economics and focused more on political theory & intellectual history (Constitution of Liberty etc.). I had always assumed he did this because he felt on some level he couldn't compete. Again, happy to be corrected if wrong.
Joan Robinson clearly understood the policies of Mao enough to wholeheartedly endorse them and paise them. Good work Joan.
I can't seem to get people to read Hayek on Hayek, which gives his views just after the war ended. Somewhere, I have read letters between Hayek and Henry Simons. The two men became very close during the 1930s, and remained close until Simons died, a fact which Hayek was devastated by. In one letter I can't find, Simons talked to someone about Hayek and said Hayek had completely changed his mind on deflation in the mid 1930s. Hayek praised Simons books which many considered recomended too much government. I'm not a scholar and cant get at the letters of Henry Simons. Its also a fact that the only policies Michael Oakeshott actually endorsed were those of Henry Simons. People like Coase think Henry Simons was insane. Oddly, Richard Rorty is one of the few people who get Oakeshott and Hayek right philosophically
"Hayek on Hayek: An Autobiographical Dialogue
"MR. MERRIAM: Is the Federal Reserve Bank on the road to serfdom? MR. HAYEK: They make mistakes. MR. MERRIAM: In principle, I mean? MR. HAYEK: No. That the monetary system must be under central control has never, to my mind, been denied by any sensible person. It is part of that framework within which competition can work. MR. MERRIAM: You did not hear the debate on the adoption of the Federal Reserve Bank Board bill. MR. HAYEK: I have studied the history of the Federal Reserve System in very great detail. MR. MERRIAM: You did not hear it denounced, then, as socialistic in character? MR. HAYEK: Do not make me responsible for all the nonsense which has ever been talked about by anybody."