The Battle of Ideas

Writing in his seminal work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, in 1936, John Maynard Keynes, observed that: “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.” Michael Avery speaks to Frans Cronje, outgoing CEO of the Institute of Race Relations about his tenure at the helm of the think tank and South Africa’s ongoing battle of ideas on how to grow the economy through the lens of the National Democratic Revolution.