Of his “close affiliation with communism.”īrad DeLong, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, has posted a long list ofĬonservative attacks on Keynes that have used his homosexuality as a reason to reject his economic theories. In 1954, Archibald Roosevelt demanded thatĪn organization named for his father rescind an award to the United Nations under secretary Ralph Bunche because The youngest son of Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Roosevelt was very active in right-wing politics throughout his life, attacking both Presidentsįranklin D. Who founded the Veritas Foundation, which published the Dobbs book. The author of “Keynes at Harvard” is Zygmund Dobbs, but the driving force behind it was Archibald B. Like Professor Ferguson argued, it says that Keynes’s “aversion to human conception” was a key to his economic theories, which the book likened to Bolshevism. Political Credo,” contains a long chapter on the subject, which describes Keynes as “a lifelong sexual deviant.” A 1969 book, “Keynes at Harvard: Economic Deception as a The revelation of Keynes’s homosexuality greatly excited his right-wing enemies, who have long used it to defame him and discredit his theories. Strachey was a noted biographer, an active member of the literary Bloomsbury Group and one of Keynes’s lovers. But before this incident fadesįrom memory, I’d like to take the opportunity to discuss the questions raised by it: Is Keynes’s sexual orientation at all relevant to the interpretation of his economic theories? Does Keynesian economicsįirst of all, Keynes’s sexual orientation has been known for some time, at least since publication of Michael Holroyd’s biography of Lytton Strachey in 1968. Real interest rates through the 1920’s were above average – roughly 6% through the 1920’s while the long term average is closer to 3%.Īnd so interest rates through the 1920’s were above average on a real basis and below average on a nominal basis.Perspectives from expert contributors.Professor Ferguson h as apologized for his off-the-cuff comment, which was widely interpreted as being homophobic. And so nominal interest rates through the 1920’s were slightly below the long term average. On a nominal basis, AAA interest rates have averaged between 5% and 6% over the last 90 years.
Economix bruce bartlett series#
Here is the complete data series – nominal interest rates and real interest rates from 1920 to 2010: “Frank, By almost any measure, interest rates in the 1920s were on the high side.” Too bad the supply siders didn’t come up with rules concerning tax policy.
Hence the Taylor rule for interest rate policy (and Taylor is vehemently opposed to stimulus while not being from the Austrian school). People make better economic decisions based upon rules. Milton Friedman knew it from the demand side and formulated his permanent income hypothesis. While politicians love stimulus, it is ultimately bad economic policy. Stimulus by its very nature is temporary, discretionary, and ultimately short sighted economic policy. “Just ask yourself when was the last time a conservative economist called for monetary stimulus?” That is because the Austrian school does not understand why interest rates are important and they certainly don’t understand supply side tax policy. They believe the same thing is happening right now.” “But the Austrian school believes there was actually some sort of double-secret inflation because the money supply increased. This is not much different than the Volcker / Greenspan eras: So for most of the 1920’s monetary policy could be considered tight. Here is the fed’s “loose” monetary policy from 1920-1930 via inflation adjusted AAA interest rates:Īfter a bout with severe deflation in 1921, real (inflation adjusted) interest rates hung around 5% throughout the 1920’s. The result was stable prices, but the mal-investment caused by the Fed’s loose monetary policy became evident by 1929.” It says that even though there was no inflation during the 1920s, somehow or other inflation nevertheless caused the Great Depression. “Representative Paul is here reciting the Austrian theory of the Great Depression.
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