The future of academic rap

There are two guiding texts that shaped the way I write. The first one is Politics and the English Language by George Orwell, which I've written about before, and the second is The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

This week Russ Roberts linked a mustache-enhanced rap video about The Elements of Style between students playing William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White.

The project was an attempt to communicate the ideas from Strunk and White with the same rap formula used for Keynes and Hayek. I don't think the song is well done or catchy so I'm not embedding it here, but it does present a good question: Is this the start of a trend, and if so, where is that headed?

Will we see clever rhymes and slightly cartoonish costumes with Milton Friedman trouncing John Kenneth Galbraith? Will Paul Samuelson and Greg Mankiw take to the mic to decide who wrote the better textbook? Will there be a duet between Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman? OK, there already is, but you get the point.

There is one set of econ rappers I'd love to see, although their song topic would be pretty open ended. Can you picture two 20-somethings try to replicate these mugs?

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Round Two: Fight!

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the second Hayek vs Keynes rap video in all it's glory.



Last time there was a brief Mike Munger cameo. This time, however, Prof. Munger is impossible to miss as the security guard.
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Mike Munger spotted

It just came to my attention that the limo driver at the 1:11 mark in the "Fear the Boom and Bust" econ rap video was none other than Mike Munger of Duke University and Kids Prefer Cheese fame.



Lyrics and a free mp3 are available here.

I've been enjoying this song for the past week, but I'm worried that it gives the impression that Hayek decidedly won the intellectual battle. While I am a fan of Hayek's work and policy recommendations, I also respect Keynes as an important economist. While I like Keynes progress in economic science more than his policy recommendations, it's no secret that his policy recommendations are alive and well today.

By going second and not having a Keynesian rebuttal, the song helps reinforce my existing bias that Keynesian solutions are flawed and should be avoided. I'll be interested to hear how modern Keynesians respond to the song.

Hayek himself claimed that Keynes planned to rework his positions and reel in his own supporters shortly before he died, as the two discussed over lunch six weeks before Keynes untimely death. Sadly, without verification such claims are not acceptable in scientific discussions. I still enjoy the story because it demonstrates that even though these two had fiercely combative philosophies and scientific views, they were able to meet together peacefully over a social lunch.

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