There are only two people who make rational arguments on the ‘left’. They’re you and Krugman. We all know he’s a political shill. I’m in the camp that says you’re a moral man, and just missing the point of it all. But if you don’t understand the disastrous externalities created by our statism (re: Nial Ferguson, Rothbard, Mises, and Hayek), then it may not matter if you are a moral man or not. The time frame of data that you mine so carefully (and so well) is too short to incorporate the consequences of long term expansion of the state. Only history will show you that. And the history of political economy is pretty clear on these matters.
On my side of the fence, we’ve given up on Krugman. Myself, I’m looking for the people who unify the two points of view – who use macro without the disastrous externalities of expanding the state. You might be that man. On the other hand, I might just have false hopes. It might be impossible to find someone who can put out a daily column in a major newspaper uniting both sides and creating a political movement that gets us out of permanent political decline.
Someone emailed me yesterday to lighten up on you. I would. But the stakes are too high. I have hope that you’re “neo” so to speak. 🙂 You are articulate enough. You’re skeptical enough. You’re fast enough. You’re humble enough. You understand the data. And you rely upon moral sentiments. A decent editor and you’re there.
Or rather, you’re there if you understand that the state bureaucracy creates ‘bads’. 🙂
Curt