James M. Buchanan, a renowned anti-Keynesian economist, has attributed the fall of the legendary city of Camelot associated with King Arthur to gross intellectual errors. Camelot is an ideal city that appears in a chivalric tale. But legend has it that it collapsed because the inherent nature of human beings is not good.
In his 1979 book titled "The Consequences of Mr. Keynes," Buchanan criticized not only politicians but also Keynesian economists. Like Camelot, during the late 1970s when Keynesian economics was wielding a strong influence, the advanced capitalist nations were forced into huge fiscal deficits. Buchanan says the plight of the British government can be traced to its blind following of the Keynesian fantasies. Buchanan said that the British government was ruled by an intellectual elite who utilized "persuasion" as they wished.
During the past few months, however, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers led to a credit crunch and a drastic fall in demand for goods and services on a global scale, the predominant view of economists the world over has started moving in a direction that is diametrically opposed to what had been taught by Buchanan.