Economic Inequality and the 'Brat Effect': What Would Sumner Think?

     I joked yesterday that David Brat should be a candidate after Scott Sumner's own heart-after all, he's an economist and Sumner thinks 'there's no such thing as public opinion in economics', ie, only the opinions of economists matter in economic discussions. That being the case, he should be pretty pleased with Brat? However, I see that one of Sumner's partisans took this comment and demanded that I show where Sumner opposes immigration reform. Good job, Edward! This is how Scott operates as well-he makes a facile point by comparing apples to oranges.

     "Mike,
I didn't know Scott sumner was against immigration reform?!"

    http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-question-were-all-asking-who-is.html

     Now c'mon Edward that's pretty obtuse! If suggest that Sumner might be happy with a number of thing. s regarding Brat does this mean that I'm asserting that Sumner agrees with his every possible thought on every possible matter? Of course not.

    So it's a rather silly standard-by his premise you could find 100 things that Sumner and Brat agree with but if Edward could find one thing they don't agree with then it's false to say they share many beliefs? Yet, his point fails doubly here as Scott actually is 'undecided' at best on immigration reform. From what I understand he's quite skeptical of it but-thanks largely to Tyler Cowen-or is it David Henderson?-has come around to at least considering the idea. However, he's still quite torn and so presumably wouldn''t find many of Brat's misgivings outrageous at least,

    Speaking of Brat I just came across a disseration he wrote about economics and religion. It is actually about a rather timely subject-thinking of all the back and forth over Piketty-inequality. Here is a little of Brat's abstract:

     This dissertation studies the macroeconomic phenomenon of convergence.  Essay one finds that international knowledge inputs such as R&D have two properties which effect the convergence debate. First, differences in R&D contribute to divergence. Second, international R&D spillovers contribute to convergence.

      "An alnterative to this 'cactch-up- perspective of the convergence debate is obtained by measuring inequality directly.

      "The second essay finds that the international distribution of income had grown more unequal over time. Cross country differences in R&D significantly account for the changes in the global distribution of income."

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/229223450/Brat-Dissertation

    So Dave Brat-I must say a very unfortunate name as he's joining a party of spoiled brats-at least when he wrote this was aware that inequality was increasing. He had said that he's not on the Far Right. Here he sounds more liberal than Sumner.

     P.S. I guess with folks like Edward out there I got to offer the disclaimer that I say this somewhat tongue in cheek. I don't really think Brat is a liberal or anything like it. The top issues he ran against Cantor on were castigating him for voting to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown.

    I saw Bill Burton formerly of the White House staff on Al Sharpton last night and he said he thinks that if people like Brat end up taking over the GOP House leadership, maybe the chance of a deal with the White House will improve-his premise is that the Tea Party rank and file trust neither Cantor or Boehner. I think that's a little overly optimistic-to say the least.

     What is more likely perhaps is that we'll get a Tea Party dominated GOP House that really will want to default on the debt ceiling rather than just engage in theatrics as Cantor and Boehner did. So this is hardly progress in that sense. However, the silver lining in my mind is what we might call the Christine O'Donnell effect. By voting for such absurd candidates in the primary there's a much better chance for the Dems in the general election, maybe even in some areas that have been reliably Republican for years.

      P.S.S. Sumner should really love the upcoming general election in Virginia: the Democratic challenger is a professor too-the battle of the professors! Could Plato's dream finally be happening before our eyes? I mean his Philosopher King dream-drawn out extensively in The Republic.