John Cochrane still has energy after battling the forces at Chicago opposed to the Milton Friedman Institute. Now his website features this petition, which has gotten attention at some of the bigger political blogs, opposing the Paulson bailout plan.
My sense is that academic economists from many political viewpoints are opposing the plan; there are also pieces in oppostion at the typically center-left Economist's Voice website. Unlike cases when Demopublican politicians all agree on something, which indicate that you should grab your wallet, if economists of various stripes all agree on something (other than, say NSF funding for sociologists) it is probably good advice.
A readers asks the academic sociology question of how the names ended up on the petition. My scan of the list says it is people with a connection to Chicago finance or macro plus some of their friends. So I am guessing there was just an email chain that started with John Cochrane. It did not reach me. I think sometimes these things are more systematic. Various organizations maintain email lists of economists sympathetic to certain political views. As noted in an earlier, I got emailed twice to sign an "economists support McCain" petition but passed both times, given that I do not intend to vote for McCain. I also have gotten requests from various taxpayer organizations that I have also passed on. I did sign one petition a while ago that I think was about free trade. It all depends on how serious the group seems and how thoughtful the petition is.
Hat tip: Don Hacherl
Whew.
8 years ago
