マンキューブログはかつてはコメント欄があって誰でも書き込めたが、ある時、マンキュー先生が不愉快なコメントにキレて閉鎖してしまった。小生も何回かコメントしたことがあったので、閉鎖直後にgoogleキャッシュから救い出したもののうち２つばかりここに載せておく。
Tuesday, October 03, 2006 "Stiglitz on Global Imbalances"へのコメント
I think Prof Mankiw misread what Prof Stiglitz meant in his article. Prof Stiglitz didn't propose increased progressivity as a prescription for global imbalances. He proposed it as a shock absorber against expenditure cuts. The alternative shock absorber would be monetary-easing, but he turned this option down at the end of the previous paragraph, on the basis of entailing moral hazard.
And I don't think he suggested "a decrease in public spending were matched by an increase in private spending." He only suggested a partial offset, not a full offset. That's what he meant by the sentence "If appropriately designed, such a combination could simultaneously sustain the American economy and reduce the deficit."
スティグリッツのNYタイムズへの寄稿にマンキューがケチをつけたのに「反論」*1。
マンキューの批判の内容は、スティグリッツが米国の経常赤字の解消に絡んで
- 政府支出の削減
- 課税をより累進的に
という提案をしたのに対し、それでは両者が相殺して経常赤字は変わらないではないか、というもの。常識的に考えてスティグリッツがISバランスを分かっていないわけがないだろう、と思い元の文章を読んでみたら、どうもマンキューが左派エコノミスト憎しのあまり単純に解釈し過ぎたものと思われる。
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 "Call for Questions"へのコメント
Do you think there is still something we should or could learn from Karl Marx?
Do you think, after all, Laffer Curve has some truth in it? Is there some optimal point of the government size as the curve suggests? If so, can economists construct more sophisticated model to obtain the solution of that point?
Nowadays, it seems economists still cannot agree on the role assignment of the government and the market. Can we obtain the widely accepted model which clearly shows when the government should intervene and when it should leave to the market, in, say, 50 years from now?
Prof. Krugman once said, "After all, one core problem the Japanese have is a prospective shortage of Japanese." Do you agree with him?
Prof. Krugman once suggested inflationary policy to Japan to escape from its economic quagmire, but the Japanese officials regarded it as perverse, who thought "structural reform" was the right way. Which do you think was the better prescription for Japan in 90's?
Do you think marketization plan in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union failed because its schedule was too hasty? Or, was there other major reason for the failure, or, do you consider it was a kind of success?
Do you think IMF plan after Asian crisis failed because it was too draconian? Or, was there other major reason for the failure, or, do you consider it was a kind of success?
PhD持ちのエコノミストをランダムにピックアップして各種テーマについて質問し、どれだけ意見が一致するか、という調査をやった人がいたそうだが、その人の次なる調査のために、マンキューがブログで質問を募集したもの。その後どうなったかは知りません。
*1:本人でないのに反論というのも妙だが。
