aut vincere aut mori

Old fashioned Keynesianism, as practiced by the likes of [Paul] Krugman, resembles a set of religious dogmas, not scientific propositions. Austrians view economics as a science, a body of theory and application that helps us understand the world. Keynesians see economics as a set of political tools useful to rationalize and justify an a priori faith in unlimited government. Krugman, like Keynes himself, dislikes businesspeople, consumers, and especially entrepreneurs and investors, and prefers a world in which an elite cadre of intellectuals and bureaucrats controls most investment, production, and consumption decisions. Fine, everyone has a right to his personal belief system. But let’s not pretend there’s anything scientific about the multiplier, the marginal propensity to consume, the liquidity trap, and the other relics and sacraments of the Keynesian religion.

In Christian tradition, there’s the concept of “The Original Sin.” It’s believed that human beings, by nature, are bad. Socrates wrote about the body and soul. The soul, due to its origin, is good. The body, due to its origin, is bad. In the Muslim and Jewish traditions, the body and soul aren’t good or bad. It’s what you do with them that matters.

The ideal engineer is a composite… He is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist or a writer; but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems.