Commanding Heights: Part 1 - Movie Review Example

It features two iconic characters, John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek, who were renowned economists who emerged after World War I to help in solving the economic troubles in the world but had contradicting views and concepts. In the 1970s, at the end of World War II, both Britain and the United States were experiencing tough economic hardships due to the global economic crisis that resulted from the war (Cran et al, 2002). John Maynard Keynes, an economist who is perceived to have created the concept of macroeconomics, proposed the credence in increasing government expenditure in times of economic desolation (Cran et al, 2002).

He stated that a government should spend its resources into deficits during an economic desolation to build an economy backup, and then grow a surplus when the economy stabilizes (Cran et al, 2002). This strategy was used by United States’ President Franklin Roosevelt in the creation of new agencies to employ the large number of unemployed citizens, during the great economic depression (Cran et al, 2002). According to Keynes, there existed errors in the free market, after the World War I, which could be fixed through government regulations on the economy (Cran et al, 2002). . Friedrich von Hayek believed that the flows and ebbs must be allowed in the free market for an economy to survive (Cran et al, 2002).

Contrary to Keynes, Hayek believed that the economies would be ruined by placing government regulation on the free market. Hayek asserted that the free market itself was the solution to counter the economic downturn, and criticized the introduction of government regulation (Cran et al, 2002). Hayek’s interview in the documentary film proved that Keynes theoretical idea was largely endorsed, which led to the rejection and unpopularity of his arguments and ideas. After World War II, most world economies embraced Keynes’ idea of placing government regulation on the free market to counter economic hardships, though socialism in Africa, Eastern Europe and South America led to increased economic hardships (Cran et al, 2002).

The documentary film covers Hayek’s footsteps, including his presence in the Chicago School, his accompaniment with Ludwig von Mises, Thatcherism, and the Reaganomics (Cran et al, 2002). Hayek’s argument was a proposition of a successful functioning of the free market without the imposition of government regulations. Mises himself described Hayek as an extreme libertarian who believed in the liberty of free markets, without government interference (such as regulation) (Cran et al, 2002). According to the documentary film, Hayek asserts that the socialist states were unlikely to succeed due to the lack of a prevalent functioning price system for convenient interaction between the consumers and producers (Cran et al, 2002).

He argued out that the lack of a functioning price system was likely to result into