Category Archives: News commentary

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, wanted to know which presidential candidates’ economic plan had the support of economists. Adams describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative, and he believes economists have a worthwhile point of view if you ask them the right questions.

A medical doctor, he points out, can’t tell you whether you are going to die of a heart attack, cancer, or an auto accident. “But if a doctor tells you to eat less and exercise more, that’s good advice even if you later get hit by a bus.” In the same way, economists can’t predict where the economy will be a year from now, but they can give good advice on economic policies such as free trade.

Since no one else was asking economists for their opinions, Adams commissioned a survey of members of the American Economic Association. He reported a summary of his results to CNN. The detailed results are available in a PowerPoint file. You can read his press release about it on his blog.

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Going into their respective conventions this year, neither presidential nominee enjoyed the full support and faith of their parties. Normally, by the time of the convention, nominees turn from appealing to their parties to appealing to the electorate as a whole. In short, they move toward the center.

Yet, as the Antiplanner observed last week, Obama’s acceptance speech was an appeal primarily to the left wing of the Democratic Party, not to the nation as a whole. Similarly, McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was an appeal to the right wing of the Republican Party (though Palin also appealed to McCain as a maverick who stood up to Alaska’s political establishment and won).

Both appeals were successful, but they raise the question of how the candidates can win without broader support. Of course, someone has to win, but usually the winner is the one who gains the support of the “independents” and other swing voters.

Perhaps Senator McCain’s acceptance speech, then, was the first effort to win that broader support. Although his speech contained policy proposals, it was mainly an expression of McCain’s philosophy and ideals. He also spent as much time congratulating Obama as criticizing him; it is clear that he intends Palin to be the attack dog in this campaign.

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The Antiplanner rarely listens to speeches, preferring to rely on written documents. I’ve never listened to a speech by Obama, but I decided to listen to his acceptance speech last night. What I heard did not give me much hope.

P.J. O’Rourke once said, “Democrats believe government can work. Republicans believe it can’t, and then they get elected and prove it.” Certainly George Bush fulfilled O’Rourke’s expectations. But it nonetheless remains true that the fundamental political debate in America remains the role of government.

Obama admitted that “Government cannot solve all our problems.” But the only thing he suggested that government can’t do is turn off the television at night and make children do their homework. He did make a lot of promises that government under President Obama will do a lot of things that most experts believe it really can’t do.

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Today is the 45th anniversary of the march on Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I have a dream speech. I was 10 years old at the time.

I remember the Selma to Montgomery marches. I remember feeling outraged that anyone would discriminate against someone else because of the color of their skin. I remember going to the Unitarian church school (where I learned to be an atheist), and my mother coming out of the church service one day saying that Reverend Steiner had fired people up about civil rights so much that if he had said, “Go get on a bus to Alabama,” half the congregation would have done it. I remember feeling disappointed that he didn’t say it.

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