Having seen the clip, and as someone with, let's say, an unhealthy level of interest in the life and times of JMK, I can safely say that what Hayek is saying has been mis-editorialised very badly by most twitterati. 1/
https://twitter.com/adam_tooze/status/1359647714854789121
Hayek says a few very specific things:
1. That JMK's concept of the extant body of Econ thought was insular and limited to Cambridge and Marshall (any maybe some Ricardo). This is a very common charge levelled against JMK and many other Marshallians by the continentals 2/
1. That JMK's concept of the extant body of Econ thought was insular and limited to Cambridge and Marshall (any maybe some Ricardo). This is a very common charge levelled against JMK and many other Marshallians by the continentals 2/
Schumpeter wrote the same in his mostly adulatory obit for JMK and even the Swedes - forget whether it was Myrdal or Cassel - wrote that JMK had that 'peculiar Anglo fascination' for originality.
2. That specifically he did not engage with the theory of capital or int'l trade. 3/
2. That specifically he did not engage with the theory of capital or int'l trade. 3/
3. That further his knowledge of *contemporary monetary theory* was immense but he surprisingly knew very little of 19tj century monetary theorists like Wicksell or even the famous British ones like Henry Thornton. 4/
4. That he was limited by not knowing any languages other than English and French, rendering most of the late 19th century Econ theory of Germans and Swedes inaccessible to him.
5. That most deeply, economics was a sideline, something where the received wisdom was irrelevant..5/
5. That most deeply, economics was a sideline, something where the received wisdom was irrelevant..5/
...because he has reinvented it. Schumpeter again in his obit noted that for JMK Econ theory was a means to a policy end, when his mind wanted the flight of theory he turned to 'purer and higher' realms like probability and the history of science. 6/
Even as a *huge* admirer of JMK, none of these critiques are prima-facie untrue. And none of the QTs have suggested reasons why they're untrue.
Hayek specifically says that of course JMK had a very fine economic mind, but he preferred his own intuition over received wisdom. 7/
Hayek specifically says that of course JMK had a very fine economic mind, but he preferred his own intuition over received wisdom. 7/
This episode is a classic example of the Gell-Mann amnesia - if I can't trust these people to properly characterise 2 minutes of a straightforward interview of someone they disagree with - where else am I trusting them where they may be just as wrong? 8/end
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