Not Politicizing A Tragedy

There was a lot of discussion two weeks ago about the appropriateness of "politicizing a tragedy". The best post on the subject was by Max Read at Gawker noting that tragedies exist in the context of legal rules that are the result of politics, and therefore any tragedy is already political.

This is true in the grand sense, people's thinking on gun laws should and will be influenced by events like these. But it's important to note that in the narrow sense this tragedy won't really be politicized. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, (D-New Jersey), and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, (D-New York) have unveiled a bill to regulate online sales of ammunition, but it is unlikely that this sort of legislation will succeed. Likewise, we won't see too many Democrats attacking incumbent Republicans over their failure to support assault weapons bans or incumbent Democrats being challenged by party members over their failure to be tougher on gun legislation.

In the end the tragedy won't really be politicized.

The Problem with Cowen

I generally like Tyler Cowen. He has some heterodox views that make him interesting to read and he often focuses on areas that most other economists overlook. However, it is clear that over the past 2 years he has come to support the demand side view of the current recession and seems to broadly favor Scott Sumner/Matt Yglesias/Ryan Avent style monetary policy.

His post today expresses some of his reservations but notes that higher inflation wouldn't be so bad.  Great! However, as Noah Smith tweeted, we need more of this type of advocacy in places like the NYT, WSJ and on network TV. Cowen is not thought of as being a political partisan, so unlike Krugman his opinions could actually influence conservative thinkers and push the median economist towards greater support for a more expansionary monetary policy. As a public intellectual during the largest economic recession in 65 years he should do this. Long term technological slowdown in America and the slowing of the Indian economy are important topics but i'd prefer to see him focus on areas where his (well regarded) opinion can really influence policy change for the better. Right now that's monetary policy.

Policy Uncertainty in the West Bank

Mitt Romney is being criticized for comments earlier today suggesting that the poor economic record seen in the West Bank is due to Palestinian "culture". There are probably many reasons why there is low growth in the West Bank and Gaza, but when people are living in an area that lacks a secure centralized state they will be unlikely to invest in capital goods. It is risky to build a new home or start a business when the basic day to day safety and stability can disappear at any time. This will reduce the capacity for long term growth. A stark example of what conservatives call "policy uncertainty".