Cowen and DeLong on what makes for a good Treasury Secretary
Econoblog returns, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, and again no subscription required. Brad DeLong and I discuss what makes for a good Treasury Secretary, how John Snow will fare, and our current fiscal position.
What I would like to see (I am not sure whether WSJ is the appropriate forum) is a comparable yet longer dialogue on areas of major political and economic disagreement. One contributor starts with a post on why he thinks he disagreees with the other, in the most general terms, and the other responds. To how many or how few dimensions can we reduce extant political disagreements? When it concerns Brad and me, I will predict that the number is four: assumptions about feasibility/willingness to be utopian, the scope of cosmopolitan obligations across borders (I don’t count Americans for more), how likely is benevolent government (not very), and the choice of social discount rate (I think it should be low, implying growth-maximizing policies at the expense of some social spending). You might recall this earlier exchange.