Battle of Ideas

“Battle of Ideas” The Battle of Ideas starts in 1914 showing a world with a global economy that is then torn apart by World War I. This created the economic development, world trade, and globalization all the way up to the 1980’s. The documentary explains how the world first moved toward more government control and then began to move away for most of the 20th century. During this time two young economists emerge in hope to solve the world’s economic troubles, John Meynard Keynes and Friederich Von Hayek. The story then focuses on the struggles that occur between the ideas of the two economists. Keynes, whose ideas on government intervention dominated much of the 20th century, and Hayek, whose free-market ideas were largely ignored until the economic crises of the 1970’s. Throughout the film it gives a better understanding of how the world and different economies are affected by socialism, capitalism, and communism. In Eastern Europe, Africa, and majority of South America the result was socialism, which lead to more economic hardship. In Western Europe and the United States the result was booming economies. The interesting thing about the film is how the theories and ideas of two economists could be so influential during the 20th century that they still continue to play a key role in today’s society. The Russian Revolutionary War in 1917 was the beginning of a communist economy, in which the government is very important to allocate resources and goods. Throughout the past century there has been an ongoing battle of ideas pertaining to economic policy. One is a very hands-on approach with regard to the role of government in economics. The other calls for the government not to interfere but let the market take care of itself. These two theories have gone through cycles of being accepted and rejected as good economic policy over the last century. Hayek continuously tried to prove that if government were to interfere with the economy it would cause a massive