On Keynes as a Practical Economist; J. Simon

THEFREEMAN IDEASON LIBERTY On Keynesas a Practical Economist by Julian L. Simon j ohn Maynard Keynes's contemporaries thought that he was the cleverest mortal of the century (putting aside such immortals of physical science as Einstein). Bertrand Russell said of Keynes's intellect that it was "the sharpest and clearest that I have ever known. When I argued with him, I felt that I took my life in my hands, and I seldom emerged without feeling something of a fool. "1 Keynes was impressed by his own cleverness, too. In a letter to a friend who named his son "Keynes Don von Eisner," Keynes wrote: He must undertake that he will not only always pronounce the name rightly him self, but will never allow the slightest mispronunciation on the part of others. Tell him firmly that it rhymes with "brains" and that there is no harm in that. Friedrich Hayek, a Nobel-prize winner and Keynes's greatest opponent of the Dr. Simon is the author of The State of Humanity and The Ultimate Resource.

1930s-but also a personal friend-said of Keynes much later, however, that "He was so convinced that he was cleverer than all the other people that he thought his instinct told him what ought to be done, and he would invent a theory to convince people to do it."2 Let us test Keynes as an economist on the subject of natural resources. In his world renowned The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published just after World War I, Keynes wrote that Europe could not supply itself with food and soon would have no where to turn: [B]y 1914the domestic requirements of the United States for wheat were ap proaching their production, and the date was evidently near when there would be an exportable surplus only in years of exceptionally favorable harvest. ... Europe's claim on the resources of the New World was becoming precarious; the law of diminishing returns was at last reasserting itself, and was making it necessary year by year for Europe to offer a greater quantity of other commodities to obtain the same amount of bread. . . .

If France and Italy are to make good their own deficiencies in coal from the output of Germany, then Northern Eu rope, Switzerland, and Austria ... must be starved of their supplies. 3 Could these assertions of impending scar city have been more wildly in error? Not likely. Keynes was entirely ignorant of the facts and plain wrong in his dogmatic logic. Millions of plain American farmers had a far better grasp of the agricultural reality in the 19208 than did Keynes. So much for Keynes's wisdom as an economist and a seer into the future. Obviously one can be both "clever" and destructively wrongheaded. D 1. Robert Skidelsky, John Maynard Keynes: Hopes Be trayed, 1883-1920(New York: Viking, 1983), p. 124. 2. F.A. Hayek, Hayek on Hayek-An Autobiographical Dialogue edited by Stephen Kresge and Leif Wenar (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 97. 3. John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (New York: Harper and Row, 1971 [1922]),pp. 24, 25,94.

548 TREmEEMAN IDEASON LIBERTY The Courageto Try by Frank Orlowski E very so often, a seemingly mundane event occurs in our lives that ends up affecting us in a profound manner. I'm not speaking of a major life change, like a death or serious illness, but of something that could easily be overlooked or quickly for gotten. Allow me to share one such experi ence. Late last fall I was preparing an article for a local business journal; it was a typical update on how businesses were preparing for the upcoming Christmas selling season. While interviewing the store manager of one establishment, the manager had to excuse himself to talk with someone waiting at the counter. A young man and woman were there to speak with him about temporary Christmas-time employment. The young man, probably in his early twenties, was a bit nervous, though his look was serious and intent. He was sharply dressed (probably overdressed for the situation), in what was likely his best suit. He handed the manager his application, which, from a quick glance, appeared to be carefully filled out. He stood before the manager, straight and erect, lis tening attentively, but unsure just how to respond.