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On May 11th, 2011, my original blogging location, CheapSeatsEcon, will go offline, as I have decided not to renew the domain. It’s been quite an exciting ride from my humble beginnings as a free WordPress blog, to having my own domain, to writing for ModeledBehavior. I have been blogging for a little over a year now, and in that short amount of time I’ve made new friends, interacted with some of the most intelligent people in the econ/political blogosphere, done a couple QA’s for bigger sites, gotten quite a few e-mails from people asking various questions, and got some freelance work doing research locally. In short, it’s been much more eventful than I had ever dreamed!
One of the craziest things that ever happened to me was Tyler Cowen linking to my third post ever. I told literally everyone who would listen to me! The funny thing is, though, that I still get pretty excited when people link to my articles…it just never seems to fade (or maybe I’m just weird). I’ve gotten many compliments (and links) from people I greatly respect, and it’s been wonderful debating with everyone (I don’t want to name names, because you inevitably leave someone out)!
In any case, I’d like to thank all of the readers of the blogs for which I’ve written. You certainly are the reason that I write, and your support is the reason I am where I am today in the blogosphere!
P.S. If anyone is interested in the subject, and I get more time, I may start doing more posts about “complexity economic” theory; including implications and applications, and its relationship to the current state of the economy. I did a couple series’ on my old blog, but they weren’t very popular, and were very wordy (one of them was very math-y as well). If anyone else as any other suggestions (and I’m at the very least competent in the subject matter), you can comment or e-mail me and I’d be happy to write about them.
Modeled Behavior was snubbed by Time Magazine. No matter, they’ll have another chance to get the list right.
A few of my favorite or most read blogs.
- I read Calculated Risk with my morning coffee. I assume many people do. You can’t live with out the charts. Its sidebar is also a good place to see whether there is something new up at Econbrowser or Macroblog.
- Paul Krugman is where I turn immediately when I have a spare moment. Krugman makes quick and dirty points that are at a minimum interesting and often compelling. Its one of the most compact reads.
- Matt Yglesias. I catch almost every post here. Even though I know the point he is going to make on many issues the framing is always interesting.
- Econolog tops the list when I sit down to “read blogs.” Its rare that I won’t find some out of the mainstream argument backed by reason, evidence or both. This is the stuff of intellectual fun.
- Overcoming Bias. There is no blogger that regularly readjusts my thinking as often as Robin Hanson.
- Will Wilkinson’s various outlets are wordsmith candy. When I crave blogging as art, I know where to go.
- Mark Thoma is where I turn when I am in information junkie mode. If its worth reading chances are its there.
- The Atlantic is my second spot for brain food. I am not just saying that because I don’t want to split up McArdle, Fallows and Sullivan. I typically browse the Atlantic as a full package.
- I usually find my way to Marginal Revolution but honestly I find most of the posts too short. I want to hear more. It often feels as if I am being teased a bit there.
- Free Exchange is might be the best place for getting a solid take on what’s going on right now, without straying to far from blog-nerdery.
Dean Baker is fond of blaming journalists’ pro free trade bias (which they supposedly have) on the fact that they are a protected professional class because of the limits on skilled immigration, and that without those protections their jobs would be subject to more foreign competition like manufacturers are. With all due respect to Felix Salmon, Andrew Sullivan, and all of our other imported foreign pundit labor, I always doubted the extent of this argument. After all, local knowledge, understanding the cultural, and language barriers represent significant barriers to entry for journalists and pundits. At the very least competition from developing countries will be limited; it’s not like the New York Times could move it’s operations to China and start operating from there. In short, while I believe there would be some impact, I don’t think removing all legal protectionism for journalists and pundits wouldn’t amount to all that much more competition.
That’s what I thought until I read some reactions in China to American elections courtesy of the New Yorker. Allowing perhaps to the distance and detachment from the issues, the insightfulness in the analysis easily surpasses many bloggers and pundits. For instance, there is this “common” reaction to the anti-China election ads we’ve been seeing:
“A country that couldn’t be any weaker is always emphasizing its rising clout, while a truly powerful country is always dwelling on its weakness and vulnerability—how ironic.”
That’s exactly correct, and a better take on it than the average blog post or op-ed on the topic.
And there is this perfectly calm and reasonable analysis of the Tea Party which I think is much more judicious and far-sighted than the average American pundit analysis, so much of which is exaggerated:
The Tea Party is a product of a certain period of time,” as a recent piece from China National Radio put it. “As the economy gets back on track, with more income and more stable jobs—when the country is richer, and people will be more at ease—the Tea Party will probably not have as many supporters. This is a bit like those radical anti-war organizations that popped up in America in the past. After some time, their voices faded out. When that day comes, we will realize that the Tea Party movement had pushed forward some rather insignificant figures in the world of American politics.”
I think that’s exactly right, and history will prove China National Radio correct… did I just write that? In any case, and perhaps due to the detachment, it’s also far better analysis than the average blogger or op-ed.
This raises a question: will my blogging be outsourced? Well, since my blogging wage is $0, I cannot be underbid. Also, for the time being I presume my particular brand of moderate libertarianism is probably illegal in China.
I could however, be replaced by a blogger from India or another country with more freedom of speech. Putting me at a disadvantage compared to anti-trade liberals and conservatives is that if I am replaced by foreign competition I will be unable to complain, ask for protectionism, or appeal to any sort of nativist favoritism without also simultaneously exposing myself as a hypocrite and thus destroying my blogging career anyway.
