Whatever the Color, Follow the Money

[peristaltor]

For too long now, I have been remiss in a promise I made to alobar. For too long, I have been contemplating writing about L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the money parables others have found in it, but not writing it. So, fresh from a road trip to the Oregon Country Fair, today I sat down to actually write it . . . and found out that

Comments

[bill_sheehan]

Yet another brilliant post.

It has been decades since I read Oz books, and I was far too young to have picked up on the allegory. It's interesting that the Free Silver vs. Sound Money debate is still with us, only now we call the sides Keynes and Hayek.

[bill_sheehan]

Oh - and I agree with your interpretation of the McKinley poem. It's fairly dripping with sarcasm.

[peristaltor]

Actually, it may be, but not for the reasons I cite. This comment notes that such quotes were common at the turn of the century as clarifications to specific usage (as in a campaign), and not necessarily used for ironic notation. That became common only decades later.

I still think the poem is meant ironically, given his marching in Bryan torchlight parades and the general overall tone of sarcasm and bemused detachment from the entire financial and political edifice found in his book.

[peristaltor]

. . . only now we call the sides Keynes and Hayek.

Yes, those sides are called by those names, but that is a gross simplification and almost negligent dismissal of Keynes especially. I even read a book called Keynes Hayek concerning the difference between their philosophies, only to get a very good rundown of their lives, but with very little delving into their writings.

Only after I read Keen's Debunking Economics did I even start to appreciate Keynes' writings. It took an economics prof who slams most of his colleagues to cut through the historic revisionism rampant in the field enough to glimpse why the man was so highly regarded in his time. By contrast, Hayek was overblown and used as a figurehead for forces bent on destroying (or at least marginalizing) any government involvement in the financial sphere as possible.

Keen's book should be required reading, as in no one who wishes to participate in a real-world econ debate can until they read it and take a brief proficiency test.