tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2974725225114485009.post2037781880419423854..comments2023-10-20T07:24:00.534-07:00Comments on His Story is Bunk: Sleight of logicPatrick Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948365865741313524noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2974725225114485009.post-37724869435996936872014-09-06T20:03:47.130-07:002014-09-06T20:03:47.130-07:00No, I hadn't seen that piece from Smith, and y...No, I hadn't seen that piece from Smith, and you're right. It is lame.<br /><br />He seems unaware that the 'phonics v. whole word' controversy predates the Tea Party by at least half a century. I remember my mother discussing it with her sisters back in the 1950s. My cousins--who lived in a different state--didn't read as well as I and my siblings. We learned phonics and they didn't.<br /><br />But, ironically, my first public debate with an economist came over the Ex-Im Bank. He, a bank's chief economist in Seattle, was all for it. For even lamer reasons than Noah; if you wanted to be a respected banker in Seattle you didn't cross Boeing.<br /><br />I didn't labor under that handicap, and demolished his argument.Patrick Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14948365865741313524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2974725225114485009.post-24691259579463024362014-09-06T15:37:25.134-07:002014-09-06T15:37:25.134-07:00Did you see this lame article Smith did on the Ex-...Did you see this lame article Smith did on the Ex-Im bank?<br /><br />http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-07-01/ex-im-bank-pays-the-u-s-back<br /><br />Smith is so strange. He's kind of like Yglesias. Sometimes it's like they are aping Krugman and trying to see how much they can say without addressing any intelligent debates on the topic. Then they'll take a position on something where they have clearly looked at the broad spectrum of ideas and make an honest assessment that might even go against type. It's like they have a switch that they turn on and off.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.com