Commentary One of my pet peeves about the economics profession is how often economists decline to speak truth to power. Any economist worth his salt should have a robust understanding and healthy respect for the unique and oh-so-very important functions of free markets. Yet, in all too many cases, economists compromise sound economic principles to provide intellectual rationalizations for politicians to engage in harmful political meddling in markets. From my perspective, the economics profession permanently got off track in the 1930s. That’s when, after more than five years of massive government intervention financed by deficit spending under Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes published “The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.” That book introduced cockamamie theories purporting to justify such interventions and deficit spending. Keynes basically said to FDR, “Keep doing what you’re doing.” Well, Roosevelt complied, with the tragic result …