August 23, 2004

Weekend Update

Matthew Yglesias does his weekend update:

TAPPED: August 2004 Archives: WEEKEND UPDATE. Spent the weekend running marathons in Athens? Here's what you missed:

The Columnists

  • David Brooks. In it's time of crisis, the nation is hungry for generalist summer camps.
  • Jim Hoagland. We should have fewer bases abroad, and fewer at home, and more soldiers, too.
  • George Will. Watch me condemn McCain-Feingold without mentioning the president who signed the bill.
  • David Broder. I guess this is what they mean by "working vacation."
The Op-Ed You Actually Need To Read
  • Gregory Mankiw explains that things were way worse during the Great Depression, so you've got nothing to worry about.

Damned if I can understand why Mankiw gets pride of place. As I have said, Mankiw's is one of those op-eds which does not quite say anything flat-out false, but which leaves all except the most expert readers with a less accurate and more muddled view of the issues than they had before. Specifically, if you read Mankiw with a non-expert eye, you are likely to think that he has told you that:

  • Laura Tyson's claim that job growth during this recovery has been extremely poor is false.
  • The only reasons to distrust the unemployment rate as a measure of current labor market conditions are partisan Democratic ones.
  • Labor market conditions are actually quite good.

The piece certainly doesn't perform the economists' duty to raise the level of the debate. And I'm not sure what Yglesias thinks he has learned from it.

Posted by DeLong at August 23, 2004 08:47 AM | TrackBack
Comments

"Gregory Mankiw explains that things were way worse during the Great Depression, so you've got nothing to worry about."

Brad, this is a wonderfully satirical comment that catches at just the thrust of the essay. Remember the Great Depression?

Posted by: anne at August 23, 2004 09:06 AM

Yeah, Anne's got it. We're poking a little fun at N. Gregory.

Posted by: Matthew Yglesias at August 23, 2004 10:04 AM

Sometimes sarcasm is tough to register early in the morning. These things go right by me until after the third cup of joe.

Posted by: JR at August 23, 2004 10:05 AM

I think Brad was probably thrown by the inclusion with the "Op-Ed You Actually Need To Read" categorization. MattY's normal formula is that the op-ed in question is one you actually need to read - although in this case the reason it needs to be read is that Mankiiw's new legacy is to have advised us into an economy which is without question, at least slightly better than the worst years of the great depression.
Can we throw Bob Dole's onto the pile of destroyed credibilities due to the Bush Administration?

Posted by: theCoach at August 23, 2004 10:28 AM

Some things are "must read" just for the sheer lunacy.

Posted by: Tim H. at August 23, 2004 10:33 AM

I'm with the Good Professor here.

The category has been muddled, nay, polluted by Mankiw's column.

Posted by: praktike at August 23, 2004 11:01 AM

What's especially funny about the Mankiw "editorial" is that is seems to be based on one of the standard GOP "astroturf" templates for letters to the editor:

http://dailykos.com/story/2004/8/17/17029/2550

The editorial probably arrived on Mankiw's desk for him to sign, and he took a red pen to it to preserve his economist union card, is my guess.

Posted by: Hack at August 23, 2004 01:39 PM

Only the "most expert readers" could figure out the tricks? C'mon, that's patronizing. ANyone who has followed the progress of the economy could figure it out. One doesn't have to be a Berkeley economist.

Posted by: paulo at August 24, 2004 11:36 AM