Fear the Boom and Bust

Fear the Boom and Bust is a 2010 hip hop music video in which 20th century economists John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek (played by Billy Scafuri and Adam Lustick, respectively) take part in a rap battle discussing economics, specifically, the boom and bust business cycle, for which the video is named.

The video was created by former Spike TV creative director and co-founder of the production company Emergent Order, John Papola, and economist Russ Roberts[1] of the George Mason University Mercatus Center.

[2] Billy Scafuri and Adam Lustick, who are comedians with the Harvard Sailing Team[3] and Upright Citizens Brigade,[4] play Keynes and Hayek respectively.

In April 2011, a follow-up music video called Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two was released.

The central question in the video is whether a successful economy results from a "more bottom up" (i.e. totally free market) or "more top down" (i.e. Economic interventionism) approach.