The critics of Keynesian economics [Paperback]

Henry Hazlitt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0870004018 | ISBN-13: 978-0870004018 | Publication Date: 1977

This volume, originally published in 1960 by Arlington House, contains the most impressive collection of essays criticizing Lord Keynes's General Theory ever assembled in book form. The editor has added a new introduction and preface to this volume. An outstanding anthology which includes a number of important essays otherwise hard or impossible to find in English.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Hazlitt has dug deep to unearth long-forgotten or even unknown criticisms of Keynes, published over the years since the General Theory appeared in 1936....Hazlitt also earns our gratitude by including the long out-of-print presentations of Say's Law of Markets by J.B. Say and John Stuart Mill; for these nineteenth-century demonstrations that there can be no such thing as general 'overproduction' or 'underconsumption' on a free market are as fresh and valid today as they were a century and a half ago. The Sisyphean feat of Hazlitt and the other authors in pulverizing and clearing away the Keynesian rubble opens the way for a return to Say's Law and to those economists, like Lugwig von Mises, who have brilliantly built upon that law as a solidfoundation.> --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 427 pages
• Publisher: Arlington House (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870004018
• ISBN-13: 978-0870004018
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Early Critics of Keynes, August 18, 2008

By 

D. W. MacKenzie (New London CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Critics of Kenesian Economics (Paperback)

Hazlitt edited this 1960 volume of early reactions to Keynes at a time when most economists were devout Keynesians. For the most part this book is a colleting of writings by Keynes' earliest critics. It also includes a chapter by JB Say. There are several things to note about this book. It is interesting for the largely purposes of History of Economic Thought. The Keynesian paradigm that prevailed in 1960 is now stone dead. Nobody believes in a stable Philips curve anymore. The Modigliani chapter is part of that era when the old Keynesian paradigm was still taken seriously.

Most of the authors go further back to Keynes himself. Mises and Hayek are always interesting to read, and Keynes deserved to be critiqued at that time. But Keynes' book is rarely read by economists nowadays. Though many economists still refer to themselves as Keynesians, few of them know anything about Keynes' own ideas. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money is a dead horse, let it rest.

It seems odd that this volume contains not even one thing written by Milton Friedman. Yes, I know, we Austrians have some disagreements with Friedman, but we have disagreements with Frank Knight too, and Hazlitt included a Knight chapter. Of course, Friedman did not rise to real prominence until after this book came out. But the more recent edition of this book might have included something from Friedman, perhaps his paper on long and variable lags. It would be nice to see something on Political Business cycles too.

In any case, the arguments of this book do not apply all that directly to the New Keynesian paradigm, as developed by Stiglitz, Akerlof, Mankiw and others. So you should read it while remembering the context in which it was edited. This is a good book for those who want to understand more about the early debate over Keynesian economics. Look elsewhere for material on the current debate in macroeconomics.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fundamental book for all students of economics!, June 21, 2007

By 

S. Metzeler "libertyforever" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Critics of Kenesian Economics (Paperback)

This simply cannot be over-stated: this book is fundamental for all students of economics. It debunks Keynes and show just how completely absurd his thinking is, often bordering on mysticism and magic ("Inflation can turn stones into break").

The previous review that claims that the critics of Keynes didn't understand his mathematical model would be funny if it wasn't so sad to imagine anyone would be so much in love with an absurd theory as to look for desperate ways to defend it.

Among the critics, there are some of the best economists of the 20th century, including Nobel Price winner Friedrich von Hayek, hardly people who would find it challenging to understand Keynes' math.

Besides, this just proves another point: if an economic theory cannot be put into clear and concise words, the best math in the world won't save it. Nonsense is still nonsense even when it tries to hide in complex formulas. Of course math cannot contradict logic and Keynes theories were extremely illogical, which is exactly what this book proves beyond any doubt.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good reference for keyens economics, March 1, 2011

By 

karl tian xiaoqing - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Critics Of Keynesian Economics (1960) (Hardcover)

this book has just received by me on mar.,1,2011, it is too long time for me to wait for. Anyway, the book ordered has arrived, to join my references on keynes study.
thank amazon.com for all the way.