Keynesianism as sedition
The rather popular and interesting Cambridge economist, Ha-joon Chang, whom I’ve written about here before has apparently been banned by the South Korean Air Force. The Korean translation of Chang’s recent book, Bad Samaritans, which is a Keynesian attack on neo-liberalism and free trade, has been categorised as a subversive book liable to corrupt the minds of those brave Koreans defending the homeland:
In the instructions, the Air Force states that “seditious books” can hinder soldiers’ concentration and suggested a list of 23 books to be banned in three categories: pro-Pyongyang, anti-government and anti-U.S., and anti-capitalism.
So I guess that Chang’s Keynesianism must fall under the category of ‘anti-capitalism’. The ironies in this are just too many to point out, but we could perhaps start with the fact that South Korea’s military probably wouldn’t exist at all without a long history of the sort of protectionist and interventionist economic policies that Chang is advocating. The biggest irony though, must surely be that far from being anti-capitalist these same Keynesian/statist policies probably did the most to save capitalism from self-destruction during the 20th century.
Fascinating also that being ‘anti-government’ and ‘anti-US’ are considered to be part of the same category of sedition here…
There’s a little bit of destroying capitalism to save capitalism about Keynes, I suppose: calls for “euthanasia of the rentier” and “socialisation of investment” and all that.
Have a look: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/keynes/general-theory/ch24.htm
(Not that any of this justifies banning the book, hem hem, less anyone think otherwise.)
Comment by Juvenile Dwarf — August 12, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
‘Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of motives, will somehow work for the benefit of all’
John Maynard Keynes (apparently).
…However, was also said to be a good friend of Ayn Rand - who most certainly would not have agreed with the above (just take a glance at ‘The Fountainhead’ and ‘Atlas Shrugged’,) so maybe his tongue was firmly in his cheek.
…But apparently Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek both hated his guts, so maybe it wasn’t!
Comment by Jonathan E. Tipton — August 15, 2008 @ 12:49 am