I want to thank Tom Cargill, Mark Pingle and Jerry O’Driscoll for the excellent presentations of Lord John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek at Tuesday’s dinner meeting. Jerry acted as moderator between the two “opponents,” while the rest of us discovered how little practical disagreement really existed between them. Yes the philosophies, individualism and collectivism, are diametrically opposed but the practical applications are not as far apart as the Keynesian disciples make them out to be. Our government’s actions over the last three-quarters century have to a large extent been neo-Keynesian in nature, but Keynes would discourage many of them.
We had excellent audience participation with questions addressed to the “lord” or the “von” with pertinent rejoinders when required. Of import we noted the fact that several current and future political leaders were part of the audience. In that sense the Symposium and particularly our economists are serving a public purpose, which will hopefully portend a better future for all of us.
Please join me in thanking Tom, Mark, and Jerry for an excellent evening