Klingon Watch

Take that you stupid people

2008-09-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

If you don't have anything intelligent to say, call people stupid.

anecdotes an nauseum

2008-09-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling's blogging style is akin to a slightly senile high school teacher who tells the same tales over and over and over again and again and again.

Today we hear once again about why he doesn't like macro. No real analysis. Just a few anecdotes. Usually his anecdotes include the following:

one part studied at MIT
two parts worked at Fanny and the Fed
one part "I was an awesome free market internet entrepreneur."
and one part "global warming is sort of kind of like macro economics."

He spins this same tale over and over and over.

them Harvard Law types

2008-09-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling: "I don't care for Harvard Law types."

One in a long line of deep thoughts from a Klingon.

evangelical values

2008-09-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Watching CNN discuss how the Palin boyfriend is now showing up at photo-ops. One talking head commented that evangelicals love the family because they're owning up to and embracing their pregnant daughter and her boyfriend.

That's great. I agree with embracing them. Family matters.

But values are not just about embracing those who have erred. It's also about speaking out about those errors. Passing judgment on them.

We're not hearing that from evangelicals. At least not right now.

I think that is wrong. They should speak out. Or be labeled hypocrites.

GOP job requirements

2008-09-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

If you can recite the following, you are a GOP candidate in good standing:

I believe in Jesus Christ the son of God (God rocks!!!!)
Abortion is murder
Government and bureaucracy are evil
Guns rock!!!!
Nature is there to be exploited
Free markets rock!!!! (caveat for some book burning and censorship)

Am I missing anything?

Seems like a candidate who mouths these words can overcome any negatives. There are no qualifications other than this.

bitter is as bitter does

2008-08-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling says he's been acting bitter lately.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't notice any change. He's seemed bitter since I stumbled across his blog several years ago (when he made a nonsense statement about shale oil before having to retract it when James Hamilton set him straight).

If you ask me, he's consistent (-ly bitter).

More Mankiw Ego Self-Massage

2008-08-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Wow. This guy doesn't give up.

You suppose, when he introduces himself to others, he says "Hi, I'm Gren Mankiw, Harvard Economist, author of a best-selling economics text."

Probably.

Macro Nothing

2008-08-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

When a Klingon has nothing to blog about, they say something like this.

Let's classify that statement as a Macro Nothing. Because I can't for the life of me imagine why he bothered.

Guessing in lieu of analysis

2008-08-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Bryan Caplan looks at gas prices. He doesn't look at demand. E.g. "NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand dropped 7.8 percent from the same period last year despite a dip in gasoline prices, MasterCard Advisors said Tuesday" and "Year-to-date, gasoline consumption was down 2.5 percent from last year."

As is the norm for a Klingon, he doesn't give us analysis. Just some "hey, economic theory says such and such and if I look at the data a particular way I can demonstrate to my readers how awesome economic theory really is."

Economic theory is awesome. But how about trying to get it right. What we're looking at is demand destruction.

As far as I can tell, he doesn't even consider it.

Pathetic.

Klingons like the F-Word

2008-08-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

If you've nothing intelligent to say, scream fascism, fascism, fascism.

Sweet.

ps: Yeah, I know, I already linked to that post. Sue me.

EconoRant

2008-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Why don't they call it EconoRant? Today's post is one of a long line of posts that seem equivalent to the mindless chatter one finds at, say, DailyKos.

That's not economics. It's not even political economy. It's just one political opinion after another.

EconoRant. I like it.

Another day, another opinion

2008-08-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sure glad I checked out EconLog in the past two days. Arnold Kling runs amok with opinions on economic drivers--sure learned a lot with those two. And Bryan Caplan complements those with some profoundly obvious insight into obviously.

Thanks guys. You're both really awesome.

Opinions are like...

2008-08-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling has argued, in the past, that blogging is the future of--well, almost everything. His idea, if I might paraphrase, is that the academy, particular academic economics, is way too analytical, obsessed with equations, and--just for good measure--he'll throw in a rant against macro.

His solution: blogging. He tells us that blogging is the place that guys like him can do economics research--after a fashion.

So what does he give us in his blog? Opinions. Opinions worthy of Townhall.com or Faux News. He rants against the "liberal elite," giving us opinions annotated with this or that economic tenet or idea, hoping to give his opinions merit.

His students, his regular commenters, love it.

Unfortunately, Arnold Kling is a victim of what happens in any form of media. Media--including a blog--is a channel. It needs content, even when there's isn't much to say. The eyeballs are hungry for something to fill the time. He thinks he needs to regularly publish--something, anything--even an opinion--even when he has nothing to say.

Seems to me the world has enough idiots posting and writing on topics such as the liberal elite and countless other stereotypes. An intelligent guy like him would be better off providing his readers with concrete facts and hypotheses based upon them instead of filling cyberspace with yet another dollup of useless opinion.

More generally, I do not believe blogging is the future of truth nor research. For example, blogging has no means of convergence. I could be wrong of course. But I am fairly certain that Kling's approach to blogging is NOT the future. A form of pedagogy? Sure. A form of self-expression? Why not. A way to restate, for the thousandth time, that communitarianism is bad, individualism good? That's his prerogative. But we know that already. He's said it countless times.

"Opinions are like ass-holes," my father always says. "Everyone's got 'em." True enough. Of course, without ass-holes, we'd be full of shit. But--placing this figure of speech on its head--it does seem that people with too many opinions are also full of shit.

Choose one's opinions wisely. And anyone who rants about "the liberal elite", using tired stereotypes, is, well, full of shit.

TCS Quarterly?

2008-08-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

TCS Daily, that bastion of Klingons, seems to be going belly-up. For a web site that has "daily" in its name, you'd think it would update more frequently than once every two or three months.

Perhaps they should call themselves TCS Quarterly.

Mortgage Roots

2008-08-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling, who argued in recent years that homes might be priced fairly (often asking that question in his pedagogical way), has now decided to become the expert on the housing crisis. His expertise in this case leads me, through his reference and links, to this fabulous comment:

I say this as a white and as a racist: The bubble happened because some greedy whites and jews saw a window of opportunity to make a mint.

Kling didn't say this. Nor is he responsible for the comment. But by linking his blog to a right wing racist, he's (a) legitimized them in general and (b) opened himself up to innuendo (an opening I'm more than happy to jump into).

Though I've only briefly read what he's written on the crisis, Kling doesn't seem to have much to say. His main goal, at this point, is to point out that it was caused by regulation. That's his assignment: prove that regulation was the cause of the mortgage crisis.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

ps: In a blog post that blames regulators directly and African Americans indirectly for the mortgage crisis, one that links to right wing racists, one ought to think twice about entitling the post "roots." Just saying.

Greg Mankiw strokes his ego (yet again)

2008-08-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Observe Greg Mankiw stroking his ego.

"Look mom, I'm on the internets" he says.

Greg: You're awesome. Really awesome.

Is Ben Stein a Racist?

2008-08-07T18:44:00.001-07:00

Ben Stein calls Obama "exotic."

This wasn't a slip of the tongue. This was a thought-out written piece. (I'd say well-thought-out, but that phrase and Ben Stein seem incompatible).

"Exotic" sure seems like a code word to me. Obama's a native. Not from here. Not one of us. Because, um, he's black?

families have no interests?

2008-08-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Arnold Kling apparently doesn't believe that a family has interests. For example, suppose that a family decides that it is in the family's interest to do X. But we have to admit it may not be in the absolute best interest of a member of that family. Therefore one cannot say that anything is in the best interest of the family.

Here's his confusion (moving from family to public): To speak of the public interest does not imply absolute moral clarity nor the interest of every individual. But similar to the concept of pressure in a gas, one can easily talk about an emergent property--of molecules or people--that describes--in an averaged sense--some feature or aspect of the system overall.

the honor of dumping your wife

2008-08-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

William McGurn tells me that McCain's life is a truly American story of hope and faith and honor.

If McGurn's definition of faith and honor includes dumping one's first wife for a rich blonde approximately 15 years younger, dumping a first wife hobbled by a horrific traffic accident, and dumping a first wife who is quoted as saying McCain, in his early fourties, wanted to be twenty again, well, sure, he's definitely shown us a life that is a story of hope and faith and honor.

Oh yeah, and don't forget the honor of filing for your marriage license to your new private-jet owning awesome blonde hottee while still married to the first wife you're about to dump.

If that's what hope and faith and honor are about--you can have 'em.

What happened to family values?

no limit to limits?

2008-08-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

The king of Klingons (or at least a dark prince) sends me to someone named Will Wilkinson who tells me that growth will go on forever.

No limit to limits he tells me.

But something tells me he doesn't understand the price system. The price system doesn't send us to cleaner sources of energy. It sends us to cheaper sources of energy. Whether they be clean or not.

When energy is cheap, you can afford to be clean. When energy is more expensive, you will accept a little more crud.

Duh.

The rest of the stuff he writes--about technological innovation and the likes--is pure speculation. Pretty worthless as things go.

Me wonders whether he predicted the current runup in energy costs?

Me thinks not.

Me feels bad for his portfolio.

crunchy guessing

2008-08-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

As is often his want, Arnold Kling crunches a few numbers and then guesses. How many factors has he left out of his analysis? We don't know. Is there much or any value in what he's provided? Not that I can tell.

Kling has stated in the past (I paraphrase) that he thinks blogs are or should be the future of economic investigation and communication. Published economic papers in his mind are too--what, mathematical? econometric? I'm not sure. But he doesn't like them (maybe his publication attempts were rejected a few too many times?).

If he wants blogging to be the future of economic analysis, he'll have to give us more than guesses.

My guess is that he'll prove consistent and provide us with a lot more guessing in the future.

Just a guess (sans crunchy numbers).

Greg Mankiw strokes his ego

2008-08-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

Why blog about something important when you can blog about the awesomeliciousness of your economics textbook?

Self-importance knows no bounds.