Rapping Economics: Keynes vs Hayek

From Financial Express editorial: 

• It’s unsurprising that What’s the Difference, a classic from legend of rap Dr Dre’s The Chronic 2001, has well over 2 million YouTube hits. Rap is big, and Dr Dre’s is the sort of rap we all expect. But 2.3 million hits for EconStories.tv, with its rap battle between JM Keynes and FA Hayek! No, the biggest economic influences of the 20th century haven’t come back to life to test themselves against Eminem. 

• Despite the videos’ Hayekian bias, given the creators’ Austrian views, the videos portray the work of both theorists accurately. Whilst the first looks at their analysis of what causes the boom and bust cycle (Hayek: blame low interest rates; Keynes: Nahhh, it’s the animal spirits), the second examines their purported philosophical underpinnings in the context of continued global economic sluggishness. A testament to the power of creativity in spreading understanding, it is a shame that the Aadhaar enrolment drive in Punjab, as reported in Indian Express recently, wasn’t able to use its creative plans to spread word of the enrolment drive, as EconStories could with economic theory. It is a valuable lesson for us all to learn: capturing imagination is the key to learning and understanding.