Correspondent William Blaylock's introduction to the once unassailable economic theories of John Maynard Keynes took place eleven years ago in a classroom at U.C.L.A. "The professor lectured convincingly that economics was a 'science,' that the Keynesian consensus had finally ensured a stable and inflation-free America," recalls Blaylock, who now regards such pontificating as painfully naive. "Not only has economics soured into a dubious science, but the consensus that characterized economic policymaking in Washington for two decades has crumbled." Within a single day's reporting for this week's cover story, Blaylock heard a numbing array of economic prescriptions.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur...
