Lots of email. A shocking number of people are concerned that I’m slouching toward statism (Stuttaford’s a worry for some folks, too, by the way). Fear not, my skepticism is deep and well-sourced. Nearly every new economic development in the last century — good and bad — has been greeted by leading liberals as justification for state intervention and/or expansion to one extent or another. So when I hear that the latest developments really require state-intervention, that hardly means I’m immediately sold.

And, as a sidenote, I am deeply skeptical of any analysis that depends on the year 1973 for its oomph (some day I’d love to write a piece that explores the uses and abuses of 1973 as an economic benchmark — unless it’s already been written). But I think Chait went the extra mile to be fair in his analysis and, as I said, I think it summarizes the liberal-left debate very well. And, conservatives should be prepared to at least acknowledge that unprecedented changes in technology and global economics might present new challenges and arguments. That doesn’t mean liberal solutions and answers are right, but liberals aren’t automatically wrong for pointing them out (if they really exist).