There's nothing in Keynesian economics that would allow you to solve stagflation. But there's nothing in neoclassical economics that would allow you to solve stagflation, either.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the limitations of both Keynesian and neoclassical economics in addressing stagflation.
In this quote, Paul Samuelson emphasizes the challenges posed by stagflation, a situation characterized by stagnant economic growth and high inflation. He asserts that neither Keynesian economics, which focuses on total spending in the economy and its effects on output and inflation, nor neoclassical economics, which emphasizes free markets and the importance of supply and demand, provide effective solutions to this complex issue, indicating a significant gap in economic theories when faced with such phenomena.
In practice
In a lecture about economic theory, one could use this quote to illustrate the limitations of different economic frameworks.
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What I did not know yet about hunger, but would find out over the next twenty-one years, was that brilliant theorists of economics do not find it worthwhile to spend time discussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these will be resolved when general economic prosperity increases. These economists spend all their talents detailing the process of development and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin and development of poverty and hunger. A a result, poverty continues.
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