Just listened to an economist from the Kyiv School of Economics tell a large classroom the following (with a straight face):

– The U.S. stimulus was too small.

– Irrational behavior, what Keynes referred to as ‘animal spirits,’ was responsible for the recent economic crash. Bad mortgages are an example of such irrational behavior.

– Financial stability is a public good. [I’m not sure if this was a reference to bank bailouts.]

– The U.S. economy is under regulated.

– Classical capitalism is not capable of dealing with current challenges.

– Government needs to supervise the private sector to prevent excessive behavior and bubbles.

– U.S. needs to overcome culture of non-intervention and introduce new regulatory instruments. The Fed bailing out private companies is one such instruction.