I addressed the comments of CSU-Dominguez Hills professor Terry McGlynn in my last post. While arguing for the \u201copen exchange of ideas,\u201d McGlynn castigated Trump and his supporters as, among other things, racists and deniers of science. I believe McGlynn\u2019s view is mainstream in academe. Not all academics are progressives or are hostile to those who don\u2019t share their ideology, but McGlynn speaks for far too many when he just doesn\u2019t recognize a genuine, legitimate basis for a non-progressive point of view. If you still think McGlynn is atypical, consider economist Paul Krugman.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve commented on Krugman\u2019s work over the years and I\u2019ve always tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but his well-publicized tweet on Friday just went too far. Krugman inferred that Trump might instigate a terrorist attack against the US to solidify his legitimacy, noting that he (Trump) \u201cwill surely use [the] patriotism card to distract from tainted election and effects of his anti-populist policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The overlap between economics and politics is obvious. Economic policy doesn\u2019t occur in a vacuum; it is implemented by politicians with various motives and incentives. It\u2019s okay for economists to mix some politics with their economic analysis, but I\u2019m hearing less and less economics from Krugman with each passing year. He\u2019s become more of a progressive apologist who rests on his Ivy League laurels. Krugman rarely makes a strong case for anything anymore. He mostly rants and attacks.<\/p>\n
Of course, I disagree with Krugman on most issues. I believe less regulation, a simple tax code, and a smaller government is both constitutional and good for our economy. The arguments I present on issues like these are based in evidence and logic, not superior intellect. I don\u2019t presume my detractors to be racists, ignorant, and uneducated. In fact, I enjoy reading clear arguments on the other side, as they help me sharpen my own views. But most of them\u2014especially during the past six weeks\u2014have been political, emotional, and downright insulting. Krugman\u2019s recent tirade is just more of the same.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still a lot left to be resolved in Washington. Will the Republicans have the courage to pull the plug on Obamacare, and if so, what will replace it? How will Trump and the Congress deal with trade policy? How will they deal with the Paris accord on climate change? Will Congress balk at Trump\u2019s infrastructure plans? How will Trump address issues with China and Russia? Calling Trump names and attempting to delegitimize his election won\u2019t help.<\/p>\n
There are real disagreements among Republicans, so serious Democrats could play a greater role than minority Republicans could when Obama controlled both the House and the Senate in 2008. But if they fall in line behind Krugman and others who refuse to at least recognize the case for liberty, then Washington will continue to be completely divided, but with a new sheriff instead.<\/p>\n
Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I addressed the comments of CSU-Dominguez Hills professor Terry McGlynn in my last post. While arguing for the \u201copen exchange of ideas,\u201d McGlynn castigated Trump and his supporters as, among other things, racists and deniers of science. I believe McGlynn\u2019s view is mainstream in academe. Not all academics are progressives or are hostile to those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}