Economist Menzie Chinn (of Chinn and Frankel fame):
The "change" we need is not so much ideological in nature, but the return to policy authority of people who have expertise, and are willing to look to past experience and (most importantly to me) analysis to make their judgments about how best to proceed -- in economics as well as in issues of war and peace. . . .
In other words, just like it probably takes more than a hundred thousand troops to stabilize a country the size of Iraq, it probably is true that the elasticity of labor supply and capital is insufficient to yield a tax revenue increase that yields a net tax receipts gain, in response to a permanent tax rate cut holding all else constant (in other words, extreme supply side nostrums [4] belong in the trashbin along with the Rumsfeld doctrine).
Obama will prove that he really does believe in change, despite the posturing of his campaign, if he makes decisions based on analysis and the advice of experts (like his economic team) instead of politics and ideology (like his Clinton and Daschle selections).
1 comments:
Whole heartily agreed. Clinton, Richardson, and Daschle were politically expedient/ideological picks whereas Geithner, Summers, and Gates were practical policy minded picks.
The disappointment from failing to pick Holbrooke still looms in my mind.
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