Several economists have written me nice notes. Here’s one from our friend Steve Horwitz of St. Lawrence University:
Not sure who your email correspondent was, but I just read your piece and don’t see any obvious glaring errors. I could nitpick a few things, but that would only add to the boredom of my already horrifically boring life as an economist. Plus it would confirm the belief of millions that economists are pedantic, anal-compulsive, boring, nerdy, and overly flatulent, not to mention arrogant. As a fellow economist, I can provide only one theoretical and professional response to your critic:
Lighten up, Francis.
Steve (as always, you may publish)
And another from a longtime reader:
Hey Jonah
I’m an economist too and I thought today’s column was pretty good. You got a lot of the basic facts (and analysis) right, without mentioning the dreaded term “Ricardian equivalence.” If you really want to generate some economic wonk e-mail, launch that phrase into cyberspace. Just one suggestion – if you ever want to boil the whole deficits/size of government tangle down to one pithy phrase, just remember “the real tax is government spending.”
Keep hope alive