Tyler Cowen on his blog links to a statement of 300 economists for McCain and wonders if there is an allusion to the movie intended. I would just point out that Thermopylae was a defeat for the Greeks. I'm forming an Economists for Xerxes group. Any takers?
So who do we find among the doomed Spartans? Becker, Lucas, Mundell - no surprises really.....Bring It On!
There were a couple of surprises on that list, although maybe they are not to those who are more in the know. In particular, Anne Krueger and Ken Rogoff. Now, I realize that Krueger has been associated with the Hoover Institution, which is pretty conservative, but she has quite a few times been associated with more liberal outfits and ideas. Did she move to the right more recently?
ReplyDeleteRogoff has been more of an apolitical technocrat, although defending fairly orthodox positions when he was at the IMF. Come to think of it, Krueger spent a bunch of time there in a senior position. Is it being a top dog at the IMF that pushes one to supporting Republican candidates for president when one did not appear to have such tendencies in the past particularly?
Yes, I was somewhat surprised by Rogoff, just because most of what I know of him is his older work with Obstfeld on bubbles. Krueger I'm not surprised about, because I've always put her in the government-as-solely-a-vehicle for rent-seeking school. Delong and commenters have noted some dogs who didn't bark in the night, such as Mankiw and Prescott.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Rogoff, while I appreciate some of his academic work, to get the full measure it is worthwhile to look up the video of his attack on Stiglitz, which is on the World Bank website somewhere. I remember being appalled by the tone even more than the content.
ReplyDeleteLooking through the list, I was mildly surprised to see Michael Porter. I admit I know nothing of his politics, but he has made a name for himself in policy circles by arguing that progressive measures, like stiffer environmental regulations, can be good for business. I had thought of him as sort of a center-left Schumpeterian, but evidently not.
ReplyDeleteThe point has been made on several sites that in this case the signatures were collected over a period of months and more or less retroactively attached to this particular specific economic plan released a couple of days ago.
ReplyDeleteReally it seems to be a case of bait and switch and I suspect that there will be some significant backlash from economists who will feel like they have been used here.