In a column I wrote a while ago I confused comparative advantage with
absolute advantage. This brought in many scathing e-mails from economists.
Economists can be very scathing people.
Here is Arnold Kling being scathing. Now, the thing I — I,
uneducated in economics but not, I hope, math-phobic — want to know is
this: Just how indisputable is what Kling says here?
Sure, Arnold Kling is terrifically well-credentialed. So, however, is Paul
Craig Roberts, at whom he scoffs. Whom should the non-expert believe? It’s
like listening to an auto mechanic telling you waht’s wrong with your car
and how much it will cost to fix it. Sure sounds plausible, but… ?