Economic Policy Rap Battle: Planet Money : NPR

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One student discovered macroeconomics during the dark days of the Great Depression.

James Young for NPR

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James Young for NPR

One student discovered macroeconomics during the dark days of the Great Depression.

James Young for NPR

All episodes of Planet Money Summer School can be found here.

Planet Money Summer School is back! It’s a free economics course you can take anywhere… for everyone!

In Summer School Season 3, we ask some big economic questions. It’s time to learn about macroeconomics! What makes a country richer? Is unemployment at an “appropriate” level? What rhymes with the “paradox of thrift”? And there’s inflation, which we’ll talk about.

Our first lesson deals with one of the most fundamental economic debates of the past hundred years: What causes booms and busts, recessions and depressions? What can government do about it? Or should it stay out of it? How free should free markets be?

The great economic policies we know today were born out of the Great Depression, when governments had few tools to control macroeconomic forces that were wreaking havoc on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Americans.

Out of that darkness came two economists determined to shine a light and end the crisis, despite Very Different perspectives: On one side was John Maynard Keynes, who remains a vibrant and charismatic public figure in economics, and who advocated a greater role for the federal government to balance market forces. On the other was the serious and relatively unknown Austrian economist FA Hayek, who took the exact opposite view, arguing that government intervention in economic booms and busts could do more harm than good.

On today’s show, we’re revisiting a classic episode and reimagining their battle over monetary policy… in a real rap battle. While the rhymes come fast and furious, our friendly summer school professors will act as rap battle geniuses to make the big ideas clear and simple… even if you’re sitting in a beach chair and listening with only one ear. Just listen carefully and you’ll pass the test and get your own Planet Money Summer School diploma by the end of Labor Day.

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