Return to Front Burner

MORE ON ROBIN HOOD

I'm back from a mostly blogless trip and reading old posts. With all due respect to FB readers, before you go dissing one of the most careful econometricians in the country (Caroline Hoxby) by recommending that she consider obvious comparisons to other areas, you might want to read the paper, where you will discover that such comparisons are in fact included. Contrary to public perceptions, well-trained economists are not dumber about the subjects they study than Joe Blow off the street. The most striking characteristic of good econometric research (as opposed to the junk boosters use to justify, oh, massively subsidized stadiums) is the lengths to which researchers go to compare apples and apples by holding other variables constant. And, of course, a single data point proves nothing. Sorry to be peevish, but FB is too often a snarky celebration of ignorance.

Virginia Postrel · October 13, 2004 11:06 AM