We are NOT all Keynesians!
Where Keynes Went Wrong by Hunter Lewis; Interview by Jim Paplava
Richard Nixon included in a famous speech back when he was President that “we are all Keynesians” now.
I beg to differ and I think that quote is used a an “excuse of last resort” and a crutch in academia by many professors and also by many politicians.Well, despite the fact that just about all of (economic) academia has followed Nixon and Lord Keynes down that deep, dark rabbit’s hole over the last 4 or 5 decades, I regret to inform people like my grad school microeconomics Professor Dr. Charles (we’ll leave his last name out of this to protect his identity) that we are DEFINITELY NOT all Keynesian! 
That’s right, there’s still some independent thinkers out there. Not many of us among the sheeple, but still enough of us spread throughout the country where, combined with the Internet and free speech forums like this blog, we can actually make a difference in educating people in the mistake that is Keynesian economics.
I got into a 5+ minute debate with said professor in my Analytical Framework for Business Managers class (it’s really a microecon class but the VT business school likes putting fancy names on classes when they really shouldn’t) when he was teaching Macroeconomics and talking about stimulus and inflation. The teacher said something about how as long as the economy is growing and the stimulus is working, then inflation will not be a problem. Uh-huh. My professor sounded like a broken record of Ben Bernanke!
And if you don’t already know, you will learn very, very quickly I can’t stand Ben Bernanke!
Anyways, back to my debate a month or so ago with my professor. I was really going at it with him in front of a class of 30 or so other students. Most of the students are working professionals so they come into class already tired and hungover from a long day’s work. During the debate I actually had everyone’s head tured and facing me. Staring at me. Well more like staring through me!
“How dare this cocky, little asshole question the teacher and our economics textbook! It’s in the book so it must be true!”
That is my impression of what they were thinking. They were also thinking I was a ‘nut’ and that I probably believed in every single conspiracy theory or I forgot to take my medication that day (I don’t believe in that many conspiracies and I’m not on meds except for asthma and allergy). 
Ok, so back to Keynesian economics. Keynesian economics has acted like a virus and infected critical thinking and common sense when it pertains to economics worldwide for many decades now. It destroyed the British Pound, it is destroying the Japanese Yen, and it will most likely destroy the Dollar, the Euro and many other paper, fiat currencies.
All I am asking for is that students be taught ALL of the macroeconomic theories/schools of thought and decide for themselves which one is best overall or the best in which situations. That’s all I am asking for! Unfortunately, it’s too much to ask of academia and most (but not all) of our business schools and universities.
The best work I have seen explaining the difference between Keynesian Economics and Austrian Economics is actually a rap video called “Fear the Boom and Bust” by George Mason University economics professor Russ Roberts. Here’s the video in case you haven’t seen it:
Austrian Economics is SO common sensical! No confusing mathematical equations, formulas, charts, graphs and statistics! It is also more of an art than a science, which is what I like the most about it.
I think if more students were exposed to Austrian Economics they would like it, but hardly any are even given that option. Only the Mises Institute at Auburn University is large enough for lots of students and there are only a handful of others schools that even offer a separate economics class to teach the Austrian viewpoint. 
The problem is that every macroeconomics class and the textbooks the professors use to teach these classes, with very few exceptions, has only Keynesian macro within its pages and taught in its lessons! Because of this, Keynesian economics is viewed as gospel now! It shouldn’t be!
What is currently playing out on the world economic stage is in VERY large thanks to Keynesian economics! Keynesian economics is part of the playbook used by governments to steal the wealth or purchasing power of their private citizens through the “invisible tax” aka inflation or currency devaluation or debasement.
Keynesian economics is corrupt so when you combine it with greedy and corrupt bankers and greedy and corrupt politicians, you have the mess that America and other countries find ourselves in.
The solution to this problem starts, in my opinion, at the university level. Students should be taught other forms of economics. Plain and simple. America and the rest of the world have been duped for decades now because students only know Keynesian economics when they graduate and that leaves everyone at a major disadvantage.
It should not be a surprise to anyone who understands Austrian economics that the Keynesians running our country’s economic and fiscal policy cannot find the answers to solve our problems! Keynesian economics was not designed to solve long term problems, it was designed to ONLY solve short term problems!
Additional aftershocks and other long term effects be damned! Even Keynes said this himself when he said, “in the long term, we’re all dead.”
If we get rid of Keynesian economics, I think we can start truly fixing our problems for the long term. When was the last time someone in our government made a policy decision that would make the US economy much better off as a whole for the long term and not just for one more election cycle? And please don’t try and tell me Obamacare or universal healthcare or whatever they are calling it now is the answer to my question!
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