Masters of Money | |
---|---|
Genre | Documentary |
Written by | Stephanie Flanders |
Directed by | Tristan Quinn Martin Small |
Presented by | Stephanie Flanders |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Dominic Crossley-Holland |
Producers | Tristan Quinn Martin Small |
Running time | 58 minutes |
Production company | BBC Productions |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Two BBC HD |
Original release | 17 September – 1 October 2012 |
Masters of Money is a 2012 British documentary series produced by the BBC. [1] The programme premiered on BBC Two from 17 September to 1 October 2012 and is presented by Stephanie Flanders, who was then the BBC economics editor. [2] Dominic Crossley-Holland served as the executive producer of the programme. [3] The Open University worked in partnership with the BBC to produce the series. [3]
The series explores the lives of John Maynard Keynes, Friedrich Hayek, and Karl Marx, and their influence on modern economics. [2] Keynes is known for Keynesian economics and as an early pioneer of macroeconomics, Hayek is part of the Austrian School of economics, and Marx is known for communism and the theories that are collectively called Marxism. Flanders speculates how each would have reacted to the 2007–2012 global economic crisis, and what they would have proposed to resolve it. [4]
The series consists of three episodes, each an hour long. The first episode, Keynes, premiered on 17 September 2012, the second episode, Hayek, on 24 September, and the third and final episode, Marx, on 1 October. [2]
John Crace's review of the first episode for The Guardian was largely positive, stating that "Flanders pitched it just about right; enough rigour to make it worthwhile, not too much jargon to make it a snooze." [4] He praised Flanders' presenting and enthusiasm for the subject, commenting that she was "the ideal guide to an hour's night in front of the TV," but was disappointed by the lack of any discussion on "whether economics is a scientific subject with any predictive value." [4] Tom Sutcliffe of The Independent wrote that programme was a "clever, responsive bit of commissioning," but was critical of the "impartiality" of the series. Flanders' reluctance as a journalist to take a stance on the economic theories covered leaves the viewer, according to Sutcliffe, "more knowledgeable but just as confused as before." [5]
The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian school theorists hold that economic theory should be exclusively derived from basic principles of human action.
Friedrich August von Hayek, often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist and political philosopher who made contributions to economics, political philosophy, psychology, intellectual history, and other fields. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics that led to him receiving the prize.
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes was a British economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in mathematics, he built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles. One of the most influential economists of the 20th century, he produced writings that are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, and its various offshoots. His ideas, reformulated as New Keynesianism, are fundamental to mainstream macroeconomics.
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Russell David "Russ" Roberts is an American economist. He is currently a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. He is known for communicating economic ideas in understandable terms as host of the EconTalk podcast.
Stephanie Hope Flanders is a British economist and journalist, currently the head of Bloomberg News Economics. She was previously chief market strategist for Britain and Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and before that was the BBC News economics editor for five years. Flanders is the daughter of British actor and comic singer Michael Flanders and disability campaigner Claudia Cockburn.
The Keynesian Revolution was a fundamental reworking of economic theory concerning the factors determining employment levels in the overall economy. The revolution was set against the then orthodox economic framework, namely neoclassical economics.
The post-war displacement of Keynesianism was a series of events which from mostly unobserved beginnings in the late 1940s, had by the early 1980s led to the replacement of Keynesian economics as the leading theoretical influence on economic life in the developed world. Similarly, the allied discipline known as development economics was largely displaced as the guiding influence on economic policies adopted by developing nations.
A Treatise on Money is a two-volume book by English economist John Maynard Keynes published in 1930.
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Throughout modern history, a variety of perspectives on capitalism have evolved based on different schools of thought.
Fear the Boom and Bust is a 2010 hip hop music video in which 20th century economists John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek take part in a rap battle discussing economics, specifically, the boom and bust business cycle, for which the video is named. The video has more than seven million views on YouTube.
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Marxism and Keynesianism is a method of understanding and comparing the works of influential economists John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx. Both men's works has fostered respective schools of economic thought that have had significant influence in various academic circles as well as in influencing government policy of various states. Keynes' work found popularity in developed liberal economies following the Great Depression and World War II, most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the United States in which strong industrial production was backed by strong unions and government support. Marx's work, with varying degrees of faithfulness, led the way to a number of socialist states, notably the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The immense influence of both Marxian and Keynesian schools has led to numerous comparisons of the work of both economists along with synthesis of both schools.